Students and Professors are ‘Better Together’ for Undergraduate Research

The Summer 2013 edition of the Pegasus features Dr. Costas Efthimiou (Physics) and Dr. Steven Berman (Psychology) – College of Sciences professors working in collaboration with their students to produce amazing results in undergraduate research.

Dr. Efthimiou worked on a research project with Christopher Frye involving string theory and how it relates to Einstein’s theory of general relativity  and the effects on phenomena in our own solar system.  This research helped lead Christopher to become a 2012 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar, one of only four in the history of the university, and a $10,000 scholarship  by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Dr. Berman helped student researcher Kaylin Ratner with a research project involving identity style.  The research involved studying adolescents and determining if their identity formation was related to the parenting style they were raised under and the attachment they had with their parents.  Kaylin’s research helped her to win first place in the Social Sciences III category of the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence.  Dr. Steven Berman is quoted as stating, “Mentoring student researchers is my favorite part of my job.”

The full story from the Pegasus can be found at http://pegasus.ucf.edu/story/better-together/