The Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) hosts its Annual Research Symposium as the culminating event for all students participating in the program. The event celebrates the partnerships created between students and research mentors, and serves as a conference where students present their research project and learn about the research their fellow UROP students have worked on throughout the program.
At the 2025 Research Symposium and Mentor Award Ceremony, both Communication and Media PhD candidate Kristen Leer and her UROP mentees were honored with awards for their collaboration and research efforts.
Kristen was awarded the Outstanding Research Mentor Award. This award is given in recognition of mentors who exceed expectations in providing opportunities and guidance to their UROP students and demonstrate interest in the college experiences, academic goals, and career plans of their students. Kristen was nominated for the award by her mentees and chosen as a winner by UROP staff and Peer Facilitators.
Also being celebrated are Kristen's UROP mentees. Sarayu Uppara and Parker Haymart co-presented the project, "Stigma, Stereotypes, and Representation: Evaluating Schizophrenia in Focus Group Discussions of Netflix's Maniac," and Aria Sengupta presented, "Shared Identity and the Stress of Traumatic Media: Exploring the Impact of Exposure and Engagement." Both projects were awarded Blue Ribbon Certificates. These awards are offered to students who excel in visually representing their research data and demonstrating the context of their research and learning about the project.
Congratulations to Kristen, Sarayu, Parker, and Aria!
