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2018 Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year

The Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year award honors a faculty member who has shown outstanding commitment to mentoring undergraduate research students.

Matthew Cooper

Matthew CooperImagine performing cutting-edge research, being published in peer-reviewed journals, and presenting your findings at national conferences. It may sound like the life of a successful professor or graduate student, but it’s the experience of dozens of undergraduate students mentored by Matthew Cooper, associate professor of psychology and associate chair of the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program. Cooper leads a behavioral neuroscience laboratory that uses animal models of social stress to better understand the biological basis of stress-related mental illness. Undergraduates learn laboratory techniques, discuss experimental design, and collaborate with PhD students. Over the past 10 years, Cooper’s students have co-authored 44 national conference presentations and 15 peer-reviewed articles. They have received prestigious scholarships and internships, and many have gone on to medical or graduate school.