Joyce Eliopoulos, Tim Atherton, Ian Hunter and Steve Eliopoulos

Joyce Eliopoulos, Tim Atherton, Ian Hunter and Steve Eliopoulos

This past spring semester I decided to apply for the Summer Scholars program at Tufts as a means to continue my research with the Tufts Soft Matter Theory group. It was my hope to spend the summer working on a model of motor proteins and microtubules constrained to the surface of a flexible sphere. This will, if successful, model the behavior noted in this spectacular experiment.  Though I have worked for over a year with the Tufts SMT group, I’ve always been limited in the time I could commit to working with them due to my course load and employment. Working over a summer, I anticipated, would afford me the time and resources to complete this model before my senior year at Tufts. As a senior thesis project I plan to analyze the model to find new shapes for experimentalists to test for.

Fortunately since my application was accepted, I’ve been working on my project since June 1st. Each work day since then I’ve worked in the 4th floor of the recently beautifully constructed Tufts building at 574 Boston ave. I work alongside the SMT graduate students and at the same table as Andrew Mascioli, the other undergraduate student working for the group this summer. On a daily basis I discuss any significant results of my testing and how to proceed with the first Graduate Summer Scholar overseeing the project, Andrew DeBenedictis. Both Andrew DeBenedictis and I have met with Dr. Timothy Atherton twice in the past week. We met once to lay out a plan of action for the summer and once to discuss an error in the programming language I am using.

During my first week in the summer scholars program I attended a number of helpful seminars. Firstly I attended a seminar on scientific communication led by Dr. Atherton which focused on how to give informative, engaging presentations of scientific findings. This included tips relevant to a wide variety of situations, from presentations given to the public to internal reports regularly given to supervisors. Further I attended a summer scholar’s event which focused on the variety of tools available to myself and other summer scholars to research scientific topics via journals and create databases of citations effectively. Dr. Atherton and I also enjoyed an afternoon café visit with Steve and Joyce Eliopoulos who graciously funded my project. It was wonderful to meet them, discuss the details of my project and learn a bit about the Tufts Physics department back in the late 1980s. Above is a picture, from left to right, of Joyce Eliopoulos, Dr. Timothy Atherton, myself, and Steven Eliopoulos right after
said occasion.

I’ve found this setup to be incredibly productive and enjoyable. Previously my work on this project has largely been done at my house or in the Tisch library. I only met with Dr. Atherton and other SMT group members during Friday meetings. If I had any small question or programming quandary, I’d have to wait up to a full week to get an answer or some helpful input. Since all of the SMT group is now located in a single room, I can gotten through all small hiccups in my project efficiently. Further due to the fact that I am paid fairly for my time spent on this project over a summer, I am able to commit myself to the project fully without neglecting school work or other responsibilities. All told, I feel privileged to have been afforded such a unique opportunity and eagerly look forward to continuing my work through the rest of this month and into August.

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