The Office of Undergraduate Research is pleased to announce the winners of the 10th annual Texas Student Research Showdown.
Students participating in this research communication competition created 2-minute videos to explain their research and creative activity to a general audience. A panel of faculty and staff judges scored the videos on their ability to capture an audience’s attention, tell a narrative, convey rigorous scholarship, and target a general (rather than expert) audience. Current undergraduates also voted for an audience award winner.
This year’s event featured 41 videos from students competing in two categories (science, technology, and engineering; arts, humanities, and social sciences). The submitters of the winning videos received awards generously funded by a gift from Kimberly and Scott Martin.
STEM category
Honorable mention
Sarayu Parthasarathy
Bridging the Diagnostic Gap: A New Approach to Malaria Testing
Cecilia Dotson
Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions to Athleticism
Phoebe Boespflug
Fishy Business: Exploring Anti-Predator Responses in Gambusia affinis
Ashot Tumaghyan
Printing My Own Body Parts in 3D!
Susannah Lynn-Macrae
What THESE two proteins have to do with neurodevelopmental disorders
2nd place, $500
Rinka Ko
Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
1st place, $1500
Rhea Lazar, Holsen Moore, Yuni Lee
Convergent evolution of troglomorphic traits in cave-dwelling Eurycea salamanders
Audience award, $1000
Rinka Ko
Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Arts, humanities, and social sciences category
Honorable mention:
Aashna Mangal
Mental Health Is Everyone’s Story
Gia Nguyen
Human-AI Interactions in Virtual Reality
Jennifer Smith
Texas Talks: Voices of The Lone Star State
Jane Goldberg
Plants Can Save Your Life: A Comparative Study of the Support and Impacts of Urban Agriculture
Abhinav Ganesh
Ancient Wisdom: Uncovering the Psychology of Past Societies through Text
2nd place, $500
Sarah Tarrance, Avery Cooney
Empowerment Through Horses @ REDArena
1st place, $1500
Kevin Bobby, Andrew Alan, Suraj Chaturvedi, Sara Hashim, Ananya Tirumala, Shubhranshu (Rishi) Mishra, Aleeza Virani, Srishanti Chanal, Nethra Middela, Keshv Srinivasan
NCHA Research | Texas Mental Health Initiative for South Asians
See below for the complete listing of 2025 videos.
Science, Technology, and Engineering
Arshia Verma
Impact of Maternal Immune Activation on Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Mice
Ashot Tumaghyan
Printing My Own Body Parts in 3D!
Cecilia Dotson
Genetic and Epigenetic Contributions to Athleticism
Chinonso Obiefule
What I Did Last Summer
Devon Voyles
ABLE
Francesca Abraham
How is CRISPR Cas9 Used to Genetically Engineer C. elegans?
Geena Kaown
New uses for previously used cooking oil
Nicole Wu
Saponification: The Process that Connects Dead Bodies and Soap
Nathalie Scott
Uncovering Novel Deep-sea Archaeal Genomes - Baker Lab
Phoebe Boespflug
Fishy Business: Exploring Anti-Predator Responses in Gambusia affinis
Po Chun Hsu
Isotretinoin and CO2 Laser Resurfacing, Balancing Risks and Re-evaluating Dermatologic guidelines
Rahul Raja Durai Murugan
Predicting Tumor Response to Paclitaxel + Carboplatin
Raquel Paz Bergia
Episodic Memory Decline in Parkinson's Disease | Raquel Paz Bergia
Rhea Lazar
From Light to Darkness: How Salamanders Adapted to Life Underground
Rinka Ko
Targeting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Sarayu Parthasarathy
Bridging the Diagnostic Gap: A New Approach to Malaria Testing
Shruthi Ananth
How Hearing Loss Starts Earlier Than You Think
Sohmee Kim
Why white matter matters
Susannah Lynn-Macrae
What THESE two proteins have to do with neurodevelopmental disorders
Syedah Shah
Neuron Traffic Control: How a Single Hydrogen Bond Battles Epilepsy
Titus Loftin
A Benchmark Dataset for Machine Learning and Data-Driven (Inverse) Approaches in Mechanics
Tony Chae
Brain Pong: Play Pong with your Mind!
Victor Moran
Harnessing Supercritical CO2 for Efficient Energy
Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Aaryana Sharma
Spontaneous Language Planning in Sign Language
Aashna Mangal
Mental Health Is Everyone’s Story
Abhinav Ganesh
Ancient Wisdom: Uncovering the Psychology of Past Societies through Text
Gia Nguyen
Human-AI Interactions in Virtual Reality
Harsha Ketavarapu
Bheem: Investigating the Power of Belief in Children’s Perceptions of Strength and Self-Efficacy
Isabella Sanchez
Christianity in Texas Public Education Policy
Jane Goldberg
Plants Can Save Your Life: A Comparative Study of the Support and Impacts of Urban Agriculture
Jennifer Smith
Texas Talks: Voices of The Lone Star State
Kethana Uppalapati
Time-Driven Activity Based Costing for Value-Based Care
Krishna Hariprasad
Emergency Contraception at UT Austin: 73* Questions With EC4EC
Leah Tharakan
Media Bias in BLM Policy Outcomes
Lucy Metheny
Ethical dilemmas in migraine treatment and access to care
Magali Osowski
1976 Presidential Election
Nethra Middela
NCHA Research | Texas Mental Health Initiative for South Asians
Riya Thakkar
Research Showdown
Sarah Tarrance
Empowerment Through Horses @ REDArena
Ty Gribble
The Wacky President