Steinhardt First-Year Students Gain Mentored Research Experience in Undergrad Pilot Program

NYU Steinhardt Nutrition student Emma Try was only a few weeks into her first semester of college when she applied for an opportunity to support faculty research efforts.

“I thought it’d be a great way to immerse myself and garner a community, because NYU is a big school,” Emma says. And then there was the prospect of gaining practical skills in her field of nutrition at such an early phase of her education.

Emma is one of 80 students in the inaugural Steinhardt Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE), a large pilot launched by NYU’s Center for Undergraduate Research and NYU Steinhardt’s Office of Academic Affairs to provide first-year students with paid assistantships working with faculty mentors for two semesters. The cohort was assembled in November 2025, ahead of the Spring 2026 semester, and students will continue into the fall.

“This is the first program of its kind for first-year students at NYU,” says Ethan Youngerman, NYU’s director of undergraduate research, noting that while many enterprising undergrads find their way into faculty-mentored research at some point during their four years, it’s unusual to be involved from the start. To smooth the acclimation process, that early entry into faculty projects is paired with dedicated training and peer networking opportunities. The program is supported by a gift from the Du Family to encourage “high-impact experiences,” which inspired Steinhardt Vice Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Education Lorena Llosa to focus on undergraduate research.

“The gift enabled the idea, not just the execution,” Youngerman says. “A first-year program seemed like a great way to reach students who weren’t reached by undergraduate research and give them the excitement and growth that can only come from truly open-ended inquiry. They’re helping faculty make discoveries, and that puts them on the path, at the beginning of their time at NYU, toward making discoveries of their own.”

The program matches students with faculty mentors whose research aligns with the students’ interests or field of study, in every Steinhardt department from Applied Psychology to Music and Performing Arts Professions, teaching students that research is not just white coats and labs. Students meet weekly with their mentors and peers to engage in various research tasks assigned by their mentor, working five hours a week for 13 weeks each semester. Additionally, they take workshops on topics including quantitative and qualitative research methods, literature reviews, communicating research, and research ethics, and are paid for all of their time.

During an orientation event held in the fall, Llosa and Youngerman provided an overview of the program and an introduction to different research methods and types of data. Joining them were more advanced students who had already conducted research with faculty members to share their experiences and answer questions frankly, peer to peer. Through icebreakers and group discussions, SURE students were able to acquaint themselves with each other, build confidence, and learn more about their mentors.

Emma has been working with Kathleen Woolf, an associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies and one of the 44 Steinhardt faculty mentors who welcomed first-year students into their research spaces this year. She has been helping with data collection, entry, and analysis for Woolf’s research projects which examine the relationships between lifestyle behaviors (diet, physical activity, sleep, substance use) and chronic diseases, including musculoskeletal and skin disorders like psoriasis, acne, and sarcopenia. To assist Woolf, she learned how to use a comprehensive dietary software program called the Nutrition Data System for Research to enter food records and determine typical dietary eating patterns for research participants.

“I really want to be a pharmacist, and for working in healthcare, it's really useful to have the habit of entering data and knowing how to take high-quality notes,” Emma says.

In addition to helping students develop and strengthen research skills, Youngerman says that a key goal of the program is to give students of all backgrounds a sense of belonging and possibility.

“When you’re engaged in a professional research process, that's exciting, and that sends a signal that you're capable of being part of this intellectual community,” says Youngerman. “And we take the name of ‘faculty mentors’ seriously. So, the hope is that even if a student doesn't continue with a faculty member's research after SURE ends, they’ve still got a mentor—they’ve got someone in their corner.”

“Professor Woolf has made it clear that she would help and support us in whatever we're interested in doing,” Emma shares. “I’ve already spoken with her about continuing with research outside of SURE, and I would definitely feel comfortable going to her again for any other opportunities.”

“Though it is a school-wide program, the heart of it is these small, personal, intense intellectual collaborations with faculty,” Youngerman adds. “Professors from all 11 Steinhardt departments volunteered, including from programs that don’t have undergraduate students.”

Faculty mentor Cyd Cipolla, a clinical associate professor in Media, Culture, and Communication, has tasked her group of first-year research assistants with several projects involving 3D scanners and printers. For one assignment, the students learned how to use 3D scanners and then wrote simple instruction manuals to leave behind for future undergraduates who have never used the machines. Another project involves learning 3D metal printing with different finishes, taking photographs of the various objects they print, and documenting how they achieved each finish.