For the 12th year, the NCESR offered a summer internship opportunity to undergraduate students in energy sciences research. To be eligible, students must pursue any major at UNL, be in academic good standing, and either be entering their junior or senior year in the 2025 fall semester, which is determined by the total semester hours successfully completed (Seniors in the 2024-2025 academic year are not eligible, unless they are starting graduate school at UNL in the fall of 2025); and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above.
As part of the application process, the undergraduate student is required to contact and secure a firm commitment from a UNL faculty member to sponsor the application and supervise the energy sciences research work the student proposed to conduct if selected.
On May 19, the 2025 summer interns and their faculty sponsors participated in a meet-and-greet session with staff from NCESR and liaisons from NPPD. During this session, they gained insight into the work of NCESR and NPPD, as well as the history of NCESR and its summer internship program. The summer internship program is named after Mr. Darrell J. Nelson, who served 41 years on the Custer County Public Power District and NPPD Boards from 1970-2011 and advocated lifelong learning. In 2005, Mr. Nelson proposed a partnership between NPPD and UNL to engage in energy sciences research. The following year, NCESR was created with NPPD’s support. Faculty sponsors who have supported previous NCESR summer interns shared how this internship opportunity has influenced students’ decisions to pursue graduate school and choose their careers. NCESR and NPPD expressed their gratitude to the faculty sponsors for mentoring the interns during the summer. The dedicated support from these faculty members is what makes this internship program successful and allows it to grow.
The interns and faculty sponsors will have the opportunity to tour Cooper Nuclear Station this summer. Each intern will present a poster at the UNL Summer Research Symposium on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Nebraska Union. At the end of the paid internship, each student will prepare a summary report that describes their accomplishments and/or results of their work experience in energy sciences research.
Each award recipient will receive up to $6,000 for their research work during the summer of 2025. The faculty sponsor can request an additional $1,000 travel fund to assist the intern in covering travel expenses to present the research conducted during the summer internship at a relevant conference.
New to the 2025 NCESR summer interns! Through the collaboration of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Summer Research Program (SRP) and NCESR, the interns will have the opportunity to attend seminars/workshops and social events on the UNL campus if interested. This allows them to get to know students conducting research in other science, technology, engineering and other disciplines and provides more opportunities to develop friendships with students from across the country.
The 2025 interns and their faculty sponsors are:
Noah Andersen, majoring in Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Bai Cui, Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Octavious Gonzalez, majoring in Chemical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Mona Bavarian, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Tyson Klein, majoring in Electrical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jun Wang, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Macey Moore, majoring in Microbiology and Forensic Science
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicole Buan, Department of Biochemistry
Vladislav Prakapchuk, majoring in Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Graham Kaufman, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Yashraj Purbey, majoring in Computer Science
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Chi Zhang, School of Biological Sciences
Seth Rogers, majoring in Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Eric Markvicka, Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering
Cooper Swoboda, majoring in Mechanical Engineering
Faculty Sponsors: Dr. George Gogos, Department of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, and Dr. Craig Zuhlke, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Braedyn Thompson, majoring in Electrical Engineering
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Craig Zuhlke, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering