52 Penn Staters selected for National Conference on Undergraduate Research

psu.edu · Feb 26, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

Full Article

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Fifty-two Penn State students were accepted to present at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) this spring, joining roughly 4,000 undergraduate researchers from across the country at one of the largest multidisciplinary academic gatherings of its kind in the United States. The conference, hosted this year by Virginia Commonwealth University, will be held April 13-15 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center in Richmond, Virginia, welcoming presenters from all institutions and disciplines. NCUR is organized by The Council on Undergraduate Research. “NCUR brings students all over the United States, from every discipline, together to share ideas, lead in a professional setting, and strengthen their communication and networking skills in an authentic, undergraduate-focused environment that mirrors the collaborative world they’re preparing to enter,” said Tineka Lebrun, director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring, which helps to facilitate Penn State’s participation in NCUR. Penn State’s 52 accepted presenters make it the largest group from a Pennsylvania institution. Among those heading to Richmond is Skyler Tan, a pre-medicine student in the Eberly College of Science. He will present research on early sexual markers in malaria, which he hopes to develop into his honors thesis. Tan’s research was conducted under faculty mentor Manuel Llinás, Ernest C. Pollard Professor in biotechnology, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and of chemistry. Tan said the project grew from a gap he noticed in existing literature: prior research implied an early sexual fate in the parasite's life cycle, but little investigative work had been done to confirm it. For Tan, the conference is as much about professional growth as it is about the science. He said the 15-minute presentation limit, a sharp contrast to a nearly 40-minute talk he gave previously, will test his ability to distill complex research for a broader audience. “NCUR provides me with the ability to develop skills for a future in science, test my work with a broader audience, and network,” Tan said. “I also just like the idea of ‘leaving the nest’ and heading out to gain experience and learn about other people's research.” Tan said he also hopes to connect with other undergraduates working in adjacent fields, specifically anyone doing single-cell transcriptomics or studying Leishmania. That kind of cross-disciplinary exchange, he said, is part of what drew him to the conference. Undergraduate research has been central to Tan's time at Penn State in ways he said he didn't anticipate when he arrived. “What I did not anticipate, however, was how central research would become to my college experience,” Tan said. “Undergraduate research has allowed me to make connections with peers and faculty both within and outside of Penn State. It has provided avenues into my future career that I hadn’t previously imagined and shaped my vision for my life.” Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring, part of Penn State Undergraduate Education, empowers students to engage in inquiry and discovery by connecting them with research opportunities, guiding them through the research landscape and supporting them in pursuing nationally and internationally competitive fellowships.