Austin Peay biology student Michael Truax conducts cutting-edge research in Poland
By: College of STEM August 10, 2022
CLARKSVILLE, TENN. - Senior biology major Michael Truax had the opportunity to conduct research at the University of Rzeszow in Poland this summer as part of a three-year, $300,000 International Research Experience for Students (IRES) grant from the National Science Foundation.
The grant, led by Dr. Andriy Kovalskiy, a professor in the Department of Physics, Engineering, and Astronomy at Austin Peay State University, aims to send 18 Austin Peay College of STEM students to universities in the Czech Republic, France, and Poland. For Truax, the experience introduced him to new research techniques and helped him discover opportunities he might not have otherwise considered.
His research tried to deepen the understanding of spectra on blood and bone marrow for the diagnosis of leukemia and urine for Fabry’s disease and diabetes. He also worked on oxide glass synthesis, which introduced him to upper-level material sciences.
“This was an amazing opportunity that I would have never experienced if I didn’t just check my email one day,” he said. “I try and share with other students the great opportunities that APSU can provide you if you just go out there and look for them.”
This opportunity also introduced something new to Truax.
“I haven’t done actual laboratory research before that had a goal of publishing a paper or putting together data for further research, so that was new for me,” he said. “It was interesting to see the true slog of scientific experiments. It took a lot of time to set up and run these experiments, some taking close to an hour per sample. Also, with the work being physics-based, as a biology student it was a valuable learning experience to understand a different field of science that is able to be utilized in medicine.”
More about the program
The three European universities participating in the program are the University of Rennes I in France, the University of Rzeszow in Poland and the University of Pardubice in the Czech Republic. Each university specializes in aspects of nano and glass technology.
Austin Peay students from the departments of physics, engineering and astronomy; chemistry; biology; and geosciences are participating in the program. Their research will advance understanding of the properties of amorphous materials at the nanoscale and how these properties can achieve advanced applications such as optical computing, photonics and bioglasses.
The other students who participated this summer are Anna Sheets and Dakota Price, both engineering physics majors who attended the University of Rennes I in France.
Drs. Roman Holovchak and Justin Oelgoetz, both from the Department of Physics, Engineering and Astronomy, and Dr. Carrie Brennan from the Department of Chemistry joined Kovalskiy as co-primary investigators on the project. NSF also designated a team from APSU’s Eriksson Department of Education – Drs. Philip Short, Donna Short and John McConnell and Tasha Berry – to evaluate the program.
Austin Peay students are scheduled to travel to Europe in May and June over the next two summers before the grant ends in 2024.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation International Research for Students (IRES) grant (Project No. NSF OISE-2106457).