Meet the Inaugural Auster VERSE Scholar
The Auster Center for Applied Innovation and Research at Tufts strives to support researchers across the university community in translating their discoveries into real-world impact. One way the center fulfills that mission is by supporting programs elsewhere at Tufts that share its goals, which led to the naming of the inaugural Auster VERSE Scholar this summer.
Tufts University’s Visiting and Early Research Scholars’ Experiences (VERSE) program gives a cohort of undergraduate students a 10-week summer research immersive experience. Students who may not have had previous research opportunities are paired with faculty mentors running active labs and projects, where they gain hands-on training. The program’s aim is to send them into future independent research with confidence – a direct complement to the Auster Center’s own work, and the reason the Auster Center chose to sponsor one student in the 2026 cohort.
That student was Julianna Rodriguez, a Tufts undergraduate studying biopsychology, who utilized this opportunity to work with faculty mentor Dr. Aerielle Allen in the Intergroup Processes and Social Equity (IPSE) Lab.
For Julianna, VERSE had been on her radar from the very beginning of her time at Tufts.
“My interest in VERSE was first sparked years ago on my admitted student’s day when a student shared their experience with the program. Flash forward two years later, and the program never really left my mind. I am very interested in conducting research, but given my limited experience, I didn’t know where to begin, so I viewed the VERSE program as the perfect way to begin my research career.”
The scholarship arrived as both access to a starting point she hadn’t yet received and an unexpected endorsement of work worth diving into.
“I was honestly very excited when I found out I had received this scholarship! The distinction provided me with a boost of motivation that I carried throughout the program, and I am glad that both my and the IPSE Lab’s work has been recognized.”
As a biopsychology student, Julianna told us she is most drawn to exploring the existence of stereotypes and stigma, and the effects these concepts have on members of marginalized groups. These interests aligned closely with the IPSE Lab’s work. Ten weeks in the lab gave her the time and access to pursue these topics in a direction she hadn’t yet anticipated.
“The research I conducted this summer fell in a similar category while simultaneously providing me with new information and perspectives I would never have considered or delved into without the VERSE program.
Through the IPSE Lab, I consolidated numerous journals in psychology, sociology, and environmentalism to answer the following question: How do people perceive environmental racism, and when are they most motivated to take action against it?”
By the end of the summer, that question had become the basis for a literature review explaining what she had collected and its implications for the field of psychology, including what scholars and activists must consider and do to build public awareness of, and outrage against, environmental racism.
“Reflecting on my summer, I would easily say that this experience has been transformative for me as a student, researcher, and person. I’ve gained so many analytical, presentational, and communication skills that I will carry with me and continue to develop in the remainder of my time at Tufts. I experienced life as a researcher and now understand the traits and skills I must develop to excel in this career.
This program solidified my choice in pursuing a career in psychological research.”
Although the cohort of scholars in the VERSE program spans a wide variety of research topics and work in labs across the university, the students had moments when they came together to learn from one another. For Julianna, this was one of the best parts of the program:
“I honestly believe the highlight of the program is the end-of-program conference. Hearing my peers present their work with so much passion and vigor was highly inspiring. There have not been many other situations at Tufts where I could hear presentations on mathematics and anthropology in the same place.
These students come from different backgrounds with different academic interests, yet they share a level of curiosity and passion for their subject that leaves them with a desire to explore the unknown. It’s beautiful to watch it play out and extremely rewarding to be a part of.”
Having found the program through another student’s recommendation, Julianna shared her own recommendation for future students:
“I cannot recommend this program enough. Firstly, the program taking place in the summer allows you to focus on your research and learning without any additional stressors. I had no fear of burning out or falling behind, given I was at Tufts for one thing and one thing only.
Second, your faculty mentor is there for you every step of the way. Any question you have or problem you face, they want to help you through it. This is a perfect way to develop a connection with a professor in your field of interest and understand what working in that field is like.
Last, if you are still unsure about pursuing a career in research, this program is an excellent time to explore and understand what you are looking for in a lab or if research is a good fit for you. There is no strong pressure on you, no stress, no heavy expectations. At the end of the day, VERSE is a program catered towards learning and growth before anything else.”
Julianna will continue conducting research in psychology through the remainder of her undergraduate program, with her sights set on pursuing a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience. Most important to her as a “psychologist-to-be” is focusing on human interaction and getting to know the people she is studying, rather than treating them as data points.
That same commitment to research with real-world consequences made Julianna a fitting choice as the inaugural Auster VERSE Scholar, according to the Auster Center’s Director, Dr. Filip Čučkov:
"Julianna's work is exactly the kind of research the Auster Center exists to champion: curious, rigorous, and squarely aimed at problems that matter in people's lives. Watching her take a question about environmental racism and turn it into a thoughtful, interdisciplinary review in just ten weeks was impressive and genuinely inspiring."
This was a fitting first chapter for a collaboration built on shared prupose: VERSE gives students like Julianna a way into research they might not otherwise have found, and the Auster Center exists to help that research reach even further. Dr. Čučkov sees the inaugural scholarship as the start of something ongoing, looking forward to more student sponsorship in the future:
"VERSE opens the door to research for students who might not otherwise find it, and that is an investment in the future of applied innovation at Tufts. We're proud to have launched the Auster VERSE Scholar with Julianna, and we're excited to keep supporting this program and the next generation of scholars who will follow her lead," said Dr. Filip Čučkov at the end of the summer.