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Though NCSSM is technically a high school, that doesn’t stop us from regularly participating in the State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium (SNCURCS). And at the most recent symposium held at UNC-Charlotte, NCSSM showed out. Again.
For the fourth year in a row, the school sent more students to SNCURCS than any of the other 48 participating public and private institutions with more than 160 presenters this year drawn from the school’s Residential programs in Durham and Morganton and its Online program. Since 2020, NCSSM has topped all others in this metric six times.
But we didn’t stop there. NCSSM’s nearly 158 presentations marked a personal best for the school in its history of participating in SNCURCS. That number is about 25% of the 620-plus total presentations delivered.
Not a bad showing for a school whose combined student enrollment across its Residential and Online programs is less than most of the smallest colleges who participated in the symposium. It’s proof that you don’t have to be big to be big-time.
One of NCSSM’s many presenters was Sophia Cosmello, a senior at NCSSM-Durham who came to Science and Math from Pinecrest High School in Southern Pines. Her research in reducing the risk of seizures in brain cancer patients through a viral therapy, conducted at Duke through NCSSM’s Mentorship program, caught the attention of a university presenter with a family member currently battling such seizures. Sophia and the fellow researcher talked for a while about how her work might help the college student’s loved one.
“It felt so heartwarming to know that someone might benefit from what I was doing and knowing that someone’s life could be saved by this therapy,” Sophia said. “It just makes me want to help more people, and continue researching, and continue working in the lab, and continue having that amazing experience of getting to meet people that could benefit from this research.”
Sarah Shoemaker, NCSSM’s Director of Mentorship and Research in Durham, says the response the Science and Math delegation got from symposium-goers was the result of the NCSSM’s school-wide dedication to innovative and creative thinking.
“We received more compliments than we could ever document as so many attendees and leaders from institutions across the state shared with us how impressed they were with NCSSM’s students and our faculty who offer these amazing experiences.”
