2 Wildcats Awarded Research Internships in Germany
LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 22, 2021) — Two University of Kentucky students, Jacob Concolino and Benjamin Cortas, have been selected to receive Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) from the German Academic Exchange Service (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst – DAAD).
DAAD's RISE is a summer internship program for undergraduate students from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in the fields of biology, chemistry, physics, earth sciences and engineering. The internships give each student an opportunity to do research with one of Germany's top universities or research institutions. Around 300 students participate each summer.
Jacob Concolino, of Allison Park, Pennsylvania, is the son of Renee and Thomas Concolino, of Fayetteville, Georgia. He will use his internship to participate in research at Technische Universität Dortmund in Dortmund, Germany.
Growing up with a father with a chemistry doctoral degree and passionate about the field himself, Concolino chose to major in chemical engineering at UK College of Engineering. Active in undergraduate research at UK working in membrane science, the junior is also a member of Lewis Honors College.
Upon completion of his bachelor’s degree, Concolino will consider attending graduate school as well as his employment options.
Benjamin Cortas is the son of Edward and Tricia Cortas, of Louisville, Kentucky. He will use his RISE internship to perform physics research at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and in conjunction with the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland.
A physics and mathematics junior, member of Lewis Honors College and Gaines Fellow, Cortas has also been active in undergraduate research at UK. Currently, he is working with Professor Christopher Crawford to help develop a custom electronic logbook based on server-side web scripting and the Git distributed version control system, to create secure entries with the flexibility of automated log entries. This system and the techniques used for event-driven auto-generated entries are important to the n2EDM experiment, which is attempting to measure the neutron electric dipole moment to a precision 10 times better than the current world limit.
Upon completion of his bachelor’s degrees, Cortas plans to pursue a master’s or doctoral degree in nuclear or high-energy physics.
Students interested in applying for the RISE award should contact Pat Whitlow, director of the UK Office of Nationally Competitive Awards, which assists current UK undergraduate and graduate students and recent alumni in applying for external scholarships and fellowships funded by sources (such as a nongovernment foundation or government agency) outside the university. These awards honor exceptional students across the nation. Students who are interested in these opportunities are encouraged to begin work with the office, housed in the Chellgren Center for Undergraduate Excellence, well in advance of the scholarship deadline. Staff is available for appointments to discuss opportunities for the 2021-2022 academic year and beyond.
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