Bold Discoveries at Trinity’s 2025 Summer Symposium

At Trinity University’s 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research and Internship Symposium, our brightest minds meet to share discoveries and life-changing experiences.

Powered by the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, the symposium celebrates Tigers spending their summers asking questions and questioning answers. For 10 weeks, our students delve into the big questions through hands-on research in partnership with our award-winning faculty, supported by a $5,000 stipend, free summer housing, funding for travel, and supplies to attend major scientific conferences nationwide.

For students like Filippo Gambacorta ’26, a Neuroscience major from Rome (by way of Switzerland) who wants to earn his Ph.D. after graduating, the way undergraduate research works at Trinity has lifelong ramifications.

“The beautiful thing about Trinity is that our research facilities are out of this world. So it's like the opportunities that I have here, the research that I can do here, you can't really do at many other undergraduate schools in the world,” says Gambacorta, who’s working in Biology professor Gerard Beaudoin’s lab on a project that aims to fight drug abuse disorders by exploring the use of Oxytocin. “This experience has been life-changing, and it has definitely made my chances of getting into a more competitive Ph.D. a lot higher, just for the fact that I'm an undergrad that's going to publish.”

Gambacorta is one of more than 250 students who presented at the symposium, which serves as the perfect springboard for future conference presentations. Gambacorta plans to attend a conference in November where he will present this work to scholars.  “That's all stuff that's really stacking a resume,” adds Gambacorta.

Tigers are supported by dedicated faculty who open doors to new discoveries - sometimes by just having theirs open.

Audrey Tollett ’26, a Computer Science major from Houston, is presenting her research on detecting AI-generated reviews on the digital gaming market. She’s been especially grateful for 

Trinity’s small size and close connection with her faculty research partner, Data Science professor Tianxi Dong.

“Students at bigger schools don't really get to talk to their professor, since they’re talking to the TA most of the time. But here at Trinity, specifically in computer science, most of the professors have an open-door policy, and you can pretty much just walk into their office with your random problems,” Tollett says. “[Dr. Dong] is really sweet, she's very patient with me, she’s very receptive to emails. She's been a great mentor to me.” 

And with that small-school setting comes the most important element of researching at Trinity: the chance to do research that matters to you.

Psychology researcher Allison Fortman ’25 has spent her summer studying how changes to the self can affect romantic relationships.

A psychology and business double major from McKinney, TX, Fortman says this project, “Relationship-Induced Self-Concept Change in Risk Regulation Theory,” is a perfect fit for her next step after graduating in December, as she applies to grad schools with Marriage and Family Therapy programs.

“The big benefit here at Trinity is that there's so much openness—we have a lot of autonomy in the lab,” she says. “And seeing how passionate everyone else at Trinity is about research, I would say that the environment here creates more interest than I might've otherwise had.”