For Stowers Investigator SaraH Zanders, Ph.D., Dean of the Stowers Graduate School, one of the most rewarding parts of the program is seeing students begin to take ownership of their science.

“Each year I am impressed by the students who really commit to their projects,” Zanders said. “Those students tend to think independently and generate interesting ideas.”

Tehseen Bukhari, originally from Pakistan and now a student at Minerva University, joined the Zeitlinger Lab to investigate how proteins influence access to genes. Rather than simply following established procedures, she found herself increasingly responsible for directing her own work.

She agreed that taking ownership of her research project was the most exciting part of her summer. “Seeing a failed experiment become the starting point for a better question has made the research process especially exciting,” she said.

That willingness to learn from unexpected results became a common theme.

Jimuel Clarence Malimban, a microbiology student from the Philippines, spent the summer in the Mashruwala Lab studying how bacteria communicate and coordinate behaviors. His research introduced him to new genetic tools, but he said some of his most important lessons came when experiments did not work as planned.

“I’ve realized that science is not about having everything figured out from the beginning; it is about continuously learning and improving,” Malimban said.

That transition—from learning established science to confronting questions without known answers—is central to the Summer Scholars experience, said Stowers Investigator Ameya Mashruwala, Ph.D., who mentored Malimban in his lab this summer.

“One of the biggest benefits is that students get to experience what doing research actually feels like,” Mashruwala said. “Research is very different from learning science in a classroom. You are working on questions where the answer is genuinely not known, experiments do not always behave as expected, and you have to decide what the next steps should be.”

Over eight weeks, he said, students often become more comfortable with that uncertainty while building confidence in their own thinking.

“At this stage, I think students need the freedom to ask basic questions, make mistakes, and gradually develop their skills and confidence,” Mashruwala said.

The program also gives scholars opportunities to learn beyond their individual projects through conversations with scientists and fellow students working across different areas of biology.

For Alejandra Carrillo-Carlos, a genomic sciences student at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, that collaborative atmosphere in the Zeitlinger Lab helped confirm her desire to pursue a career in research.

“I've seen firsthand how collaboration and different perspectives lead to better science,” Carrillo-Carlos said. “It's changed the way I approach scientific questions and encouraged me to think more creatively and critically about research.”

The connections among the scholars themselves proved equally important. Carrillo-Carlos described her fellow Summer Scholars as a source of inspiration, while Malimban said the friendships he formed transformed the summer into both a scientific and personal experience.

For mentors, growth is often visible not only at the bench but also in how students learn to talk about their science. Mashruwala said scholars become increasingly capable of explaining the questions behind their experiments, interpreting what results do and do not show, and thinking about what should come next.

“I also saw a lot of growth in scientific communication,” he said. “Having to explain the question, the logic behind an experiment, and what the results do or do not tell us is an important part of becoming a scientist.”

Zanders said the program’s success is not measured solely by how many participants ultimately pursue careers in basic research. What matters is that scholars leave with a clearer understanding of where they want to go next.

“Some will realize that basic science research is for them,” Zanders said. “Others will realize research isn’t a great fit and will know to look for something else. Both are successful outcomes.”

The program continues to grow as new Stowers Investigators and fellows expand the number of laboratories able to host scholars. But its central purpose remains the same: giving students an authentic experience of scientific research at a formative moment in their careers.

After eight weeks of experiments, conversations, challenges and discoveries, the 2026 Summer Scholars leave Stowers with more than new technical skills. They leave with a deeper understanding of how science moves forward—through curiosity, persistence, collaboration, and the confidence to ask what comes next.

2026 Stowers Summer Scholars

Arturo Barazarte — Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya – Barcelona, Spain 
Tehseen Bukhari — Minerva University – San Francisco, CA 
Noel Caparoon — Rockhurst University – Kansas City, MO 
Alejandra Carrillo Carlos — National Autonomous University of Mexico – Morelos, Mexico 
Brandon Chandler — University of Missouri – Columbia, MO 
Lily Hayes — Rockhurst University – Kansas City, MO 
Samuel Herman — University of Missouri-Kansas City – Kansas City, MO 
Jacob Klipfel — Rockhurst University – Kansas City, MO 
Jimuel Malimban — University of the Philippines Los Banos – Laguna, Philippines 
Zuzanna Szmyd — Rockhurst University – Kansas City, MO 
Lily Wang — University of Kansas – Lawrence, KS

Applications for the 2027 Stowers Summer Scholars Program open October 1, 2026. Learn more here