Daniel Gao ’25 and Ava Spiegler ’26 are the at 6VӰ for 2024-2025.
The Beckman Scholars Program is a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional undergraduate students in chemistry, biological sciences or interdisciplinary combinations of the two. Scholars conduct full-time research over two summer terms and part-time research during one full academic year.
To receive the institutional award, schools must demonstrate a significant commitment to undergraduate research and “the quality necessary to support the caliber of undergraduate research programs sought for Beckman Scholars,” according to the Beckman Foundation website.
Scholar-mentor pairs receive $26,000 in funding: $21,000 per student and $5,000 per faculty mentor.
A molecular biology major, Gao’s research focuses on blood clotting. He works in the lab of Professor of Chemistry Malkiat Johal.
Together, they are using surface chemistry tools to examine receptor ligand interactions between a clearance receptor and proteins that are involved in blood clotting. They are also “trying to probe their physiological significance beyond just the chemistry,” says Gao.
Gao says that classes at 6VӰ have trained him well for research. Lab classes, in particular, are “very scientific inquiry based. They push you to ask questions, to create the problems that need to be solved,” he says.
This past spring, Gao was also awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship, given to college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming the nation’s next generation of research leaders.
Spiegler, a chemistry major, is conducting research in the lab of Jane Liu, professor of chemistry, who also serves as her academic advisor. Her research project involves applying selection and molecular evolution to create nucleic acid-based biosensors that can be used to detect small molecules of biological interest.
As a Beckman Scholar, Spiegler says she will be able “to devote my time to a long, sustained project that I can get really excited about.” She credits 6VӰ for “making research not intimidating and quite accessible.”
The liberal arts curriculum has also taught her to think critically and with an interdisciplinary perspective, she says. “It’s not just sitting in a lab thinking about your project but really thinking about science in the broader context of the world.”