Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (UCSB)

The Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships is excited to partner with Vandenberg Space Force Base, REACH, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, and regional community colleges to train the next generation of aerospace professionals and boost the aerospace industry in the central coast. This year, UCSB students will have the opportunity to apply for an 8 week internship at Vandenberg. Applications and the website will be live at the beginning of February. 🚀

The Art of Science competition is back! Are you a STEM or Art undergraduate, graduate, or postdoctoral researcher at UCSB who is interested in sharing your research through art? Are you seeking creative or collaborative ways to engage with your work?

The Schuller Lab, the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships, and the UCSB Library are excited to announce the 13th annual Art of Science competition.

Important Dates:
Submissions due - March 1, 2026
Public Voting - March 9-22, 2026
Awards Reception - April TBA
Exhibitions at Santa Barbara Museum of Art & UC Santa Barbara Library

Another year, another successful conference! This year, UCSB CSEP was represented at ABRCMS San Antonio by MARC and past Beckman and EUREKA scholars. For some, this was their first conferences, while others were no stranger to the hustle of a 3 day STEM extravaganza filled with networking opportunities, research talks, and poster presentations. Congratulations to Conor Pugsley, Perrine Changkuon, Callie Thai, and Giovanni LeDoux for best poster presentations! We are so proud of all of you and hope that this was a rewarding experience for all scholars! ✨❤️

You are invited to join us for a special Artists Reception celebrating the 2025 Art of Science at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

Artists Reception
Tuesday,October 14
5:00 – 6:30 pm
Art Learning Lab, State Street Gallery
Santa Barbara Museum of Art
Use rear entrance by Parking Lot #7 (Library Garage)

A full day of tabling and meeting new and interested students! We hope you got a chance to speak to our amazing scholars about their experiences with CSEP. Thank you to the , .ucsb and for putting on great events to support all students!

Isabel Rodriguez was awarded 1st place in the 2025 Elevator Pitch Competion for her pitch on individual emotion-cognition interactions. She is currently a researcher in the LEAP Neuro Lab.

Isabel Rodriguez was awarded 1st place in the 2025 Elevator Pitch Competion for her talk on individual emotion-cognition interactions. She is currently a researcher in the LEAP Neuro Lab.

Callie Thai, a CSEP scholar, was awarded 2nd place for her talk on mutated macrophagesand their effects in treating triple negative breast cancer. She is currently a researcher in the Denise Montell Lab.

Last week, summer interns participated in an Elevator Pitch competition where they were given under two minutes to present their research to a panel of judges and their peers!

The third & final workshop for graduate mentors was led by third year PhD student, Andrew White from the Marley Dewey lab. 👨🏻‍🔬🔬

He discussed the importance of inclusive mentoring and its impact on his own mentoring practices, creating spaces for clear communication with mentees, and giving feedback to promote growth as researchers.

Thank you to our Mentor Leadership Fellow, Shaylee Larson, for coordinating a successful three part mentorship training series this year!

Early mornings with CSEP and . Summer interns had morning workshop with Lana Smith Hale on Conflict Resolution in STEM Research.

Students learned about conflict styles in interpersonal relationships with mentors, faculty, and among peers. Conversations flowed about how to handle common conflict scenarios in and out of the lab while conducting research.

🎓 Senior Spotlight: Caroline Rogers
Meet Caroline from Santa Barbara High! 🎾💚 A 4-year tennis player and Co-President of the Mental Health Awareness Club, she’s also a National Merit Commended Scholar with 200+ volunteer hours.
Next stop: UCLA to study Neuroscience, write for the Daily Bruin, and dive into research! 🧠🔬
“The Apprentice Researchers program gave me real-world lab skills—I feel ready to take on college research!”