The STAR (Students Tackling Advanced Research) Scholars Program, through Drexel University’s Pennoni Honors College, is a highly competitive program that grants first-year students an opportunity to gain early faculty-mentored undergraduate research, scholarship and creative experience.
Students begin the program in the summer following their first year at Drexel where they gain a hands-on approach to their education through undergraduate research.
Bhavya Isotia, BS computer science ’27, said the program was one of the main reasons she chose to attend Drexel. She was mentored by Ellen Bass, PhD, interim senior associate dean for research & professor of information science, who was also mentoring two other students at the time. Isotia was very happy to work with Bass and said that they worked together “flawlessly.”
“It was a big deal to find a perfect mentor who could help me throughout this process for research,” said Isotia. “I understood how she worked, and she was not just a normal mentor. Despite having no prior knowledge of [how to conduct] research, her mentoring was unmistakably driven by a profound passion.”
Bass says she feels very privileged to work with these students. “One of the joys of being a faculty member is to be able to work with students who have already proven themselves, graduated from high school and they have successfully made the transition to college, they passed that first year with flying colors,” Bass said. “To work with young scholars who are the top of our student population and to be able to engage with them in research and give them that feeling of excitement when they get to learn new skills and apply them, and to be able to demonstrate them, not only for me as a research mentor, but to the broader community.”
Bass was recently named 2023 Outstanding Drexel STAR Scholar Mentor of the Year, which recognized her passion towards sharing her research expertise with students in the field, and her active engagement with students in learning and celebrating their successes. As part of the award, Bass received funding from the Undergraduate Research & Enrichment Program in the Pennoni Honors College to support her continued work in undergraduate student research.