See what Benancio had to say about his experience as a 2017 UROP Summer Research Fellow:

"During my first year of MRC, I found that I really enjoyed my research, so I looked for a way to

stay in my lab over the summer so I could continue my research full-time. I was awarded the
UROP Biomedical & Life Sciences Summer Fellowship along with my Peer Mentor, Jonatan
Hervoso.

Like many first-year students in MRC, my peer mentor became one of my better friends at the
university. When it came time to live away from home for the summer, I had the same
welcoming face as I did on move-in day.

Jonatan and I work in different research labs, so we didn’t work together during the summer,
but the fellowship required weekly meetings, and Jonatan and I attended those meetings
together. We spent time talking about how we were both furthering our research from our first
year of MRC. Being paid to work in our research labs full-time allowed us to make
advancements in our projects that weren’t possible during the school year. The fellowship also
allowed us to practice presenting research articles to our peers, along with working 40 hours a
week. We both received living stipends from UROP which made this possible.

At the conclusion of the fellowship, UROP hosts a Summer Research Symposium where each
summer research fellow presents a poster of their research. Both Jonatan and I were awarded
for our presentations from our respective judges." - Benancio Rodriguez

Congrats Benancio and Jonatan!