At UChicago, mentorship drives the ‘front line of discovery’

Undergraduates describe the campus relationships that guide their success

For a keen mind, the right mentor can make a world of difference.

This may be especially true for students at the University of Chicago as they immerse in discovery. The relationships students build with their mentors support them as they connect with research opportunities, explore their passions and test their mettle against tough problems and enduring questions.

For Daniel Babnigg, a fourth-year astrophysics major, mentorship created the opportunity to peer through a telescope—and see something wholly new.

During spring break of 2024, Babnigg was among a small group of undergraduates invited by his mentor, UChicago astronomy and astrophysics Prof. Mike Gladders, to travel to the Las Campanas Observatory in the mountains near Chile's Atacama Desert. There, the powerful Magellan Telescopes—twin 6.5-meter optical telescopes—stand like sentinels, sixty meters apart, on the isolated peak of Cerro Manqui. They offer a glimpse into the cosmos and a chance to put classroom theory into practice.

Babnigg and his classmates were students in a two-quarter field course taught by Gladders, who describes the course as “a deep dive into observational astrophysical research.”

“We talk about what discovery looks like,” he explained, “and then take those discoveries to a telescope and actually study them.”

Students make the leap from learner to researcher as they comb through public data in search of unique, unusual or unexamined astrophysical objects. Later, they study these objects further using the Magellan Telescope. Babnigg savored his moment in the chair: adjusting the controls, pointing the telescope, confronting the cosmos and capturing data. 

“It was my first experience to actually be in the field,” he said. “It was really, really cool.”

Powerful telescopes such as the Magellans, which can study the light from faint objects across the universe, have fueled a new age of discovery in astrophysical research—what Gladders considers to be the next golden age. For him, the purpose of the field course is to engage students “on the front line of discovery” as collaborators in the production of knowledge. Their contributions have immediate and tangible scientific value.  

“These observatory sites are quite magical places,” Gladders said. “You're there to do something intellectually grounded in research, but part of the experience is standing under that sky in the middle of the night where the center of the Milky Way arcs overhead. The air is so clear and the place is so isolated, that you almost feel like you're falling off the planet and into the cosmos. Sharing that feeling with students, I think, is as important as sharing the intellectual experience.”

For Babnigg, the field course was a pivotal moment in his academic journey and helped define an interest in observational data analysis that now undergirds his honors thesis research. 

“Usually, undergraduates end up using pre-processed data,” he said. “But to see the full process. It just made me more passionate.”

Babnigg is one of several students mentored by Gladders, both through one-on-one and weekly research meetings. Babnigg emphasized the value of engaging with other students, often working on different but related projects, as well as the generation of ideas and support that can come from getting together as a group.

Many former astrophysics majors have continued to study the field in graduate schools elsewhere, but they remain connected to UChicago and current majors through a shared Slack channel. When students type questions or reach out for insight on their research, alumni of the program can provide mentorship and advice from wherever they are in the world. For Gladders, this is one of the greatest achievements of the program since the major first launched in 2018. 

“One of the highlights for me,” Gladders said, “is not just mentoring individual students—although that's been a highlight in a lot of ways—but mentoring a community of engagement and support.”

Colleagues in the production of knowledge

Earthbound and across campus, undergraduates in UChicago’s Development of Social Cognition Laboratory are researching fundamental questions of identity development and social behavior in children. 

The lab is run by psychology Prof. Katherine D. Kinzler, who is also the vice provost for Academic Career Advancement, with a team of staff, graduate and undergraduate students.

Kinzler’s lab is structured around collaboration, both within her team and with colleagues in the Developmental Investigations of Behavior and Strategy Laboratory led by Assoc. Prof. Alex Shaw. Undergraduate research assistants work between labs and across projects with peers, graduate students and faculty. 

“Research is where knowledge originates,” Kinzler said. “Students who join the lab want to be part of that.”

Research is one of her favorite ways to engage with undergraduates, because it creates opportunities for what she describes as “reciprocal learning.” When a faculty member and a student study, test and discover together, they establish a new kind of relationship as colleagues and collaborators.

In her lab,students also cultivate important connections with each other. Graduate students serve as leaders and mentors, filling a unique role as advanced researchers who are typically just a few years ahead of their undergraduate colleagues. 

“People often want to learn from a near peer,” Kinzler said.“[Graduate students] are role models within reach.”

Rachel King, a doctoral student in developmental psychology, studies how children understand concepts like wealth, poverty and inequality. She collaborates closely with undergraduates and especially values mentoring those pursuing an honors thesis.

“I value their input,” she said. “If I have students working with me who are excellent and driven to get a project done—that’s a project I probably wouldn’t have time to do if I didn’t have them as collaborators.”

King’s collegial approach has earned her the admiration of College students in the lab who praised her kindness, approachability and dedication to their success. 

“Rachel has listened to me so much, and I'm very grateful for her,” said Zlatina Stefanov, a fourth-year who is one of King’s thesis students. 

She applied to join the lab in her third year as a research assistant, and her experience sparked an interest in pursuing answers to research questions of her own. 

“You start to learn the actual research process, which was the part that really got me excited,” Stefanov said. “Getting to sit down and talk to families, collecting data and then seeing that the data means something—that's what got me super excited about the idea of a thesis.”

Fellow fourth-year Ryan Nguyen, who plans to pursue a law career, is working with King on a thesis that explores how young children conceptualize socioeconomic inequality, economic mobility and wealth distribution. 

“She's definitely made me a better researcher,” he said. “She's going to make me a better lawyer in the future—and I think that's what the mentorship relationship has been about. She goes out of her way to understand who I am, where I'm strong and where I need improvements.”
 
Lab manager Isabella Ramkissoon, AB’24, oversees research projects and daily operations for both labs led by Kinzler and Shaw. She graduated from the College with honors last spring with a degree in psychology and wrote an award-winning thesis under the mentorship of King, who also became a friend.

Ramkissoon joined the lab during her second year in the College and quickly discovered how much she enjoyed being part of a collaborative research community. King facilitated group discussions with the research assistant team, where they would discuss papers and research ideas. Now, as lab manager, Ramkissoon is trying to bring that same spirit of support and cooperation into her own role—just as King had done for her.

Oftentimes, that’s done over a hot cup of coffee. 

“We get to know each other as people too,” Ramkissoon said.