Enhancing students' research, critical thinking, and professional communication skills.
For the 13th year, NCESR offered a summer internship opportunity for undergraduate students in energy sciences research. To better align with undergraduate decision timelines, NCESR revised the application process by moving the application deadline and award notification to November–December 2025 instead of February–March 2026. Because many students accept summer internships by the end of December, this earlier timeline allowed undergraduates to apply before committing to other summer opportunities.
Each award recipient receives up to $6,000 to support their research work during the summer of 2026. Faculty sponsors may also request an additional $1,000 in travel funds to assist interns with expenses related to presenting their summer research at a relevant conference.
Interns and their faculty sponsors will participate in a meet-and-greet event in May with the NCESR team and NPPD liaisons. During this session, participants will learn about the work of NCESR and NPPD, as well as the history of NCESR and its summer internship program. Interns will also have the opportunity to share and discuss their research projects with fellow interns and faculty sponsors.
Additional summer activities include a tour of NPPD’s Cooper Nuclear Station near Brownville, Nebraska. Interns consistently note this as a program highlight. They will also present a research poster at the UNL Summer Research Symposium in August 2026, where a $500 award will be given to recognize the best NCESR summer intern poster. At the conclusion of the paid internship, each student will submit a summary report describing their accomplishments and/or research outcomes in energy sciences.
Through the collaboration between the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Summer Research Program (SRP) and NCESR, interns will have the opportunity to participate in seminars, workshops, and social events on the UNL campus, if interested. These activities provide opportunities to connect with students conducting research in other sciences, technology, engineering, and related disciplines and to build friendships with students from across the country.
The 2026 interns and their faculty sponsors are:
Morgan Hixson, Microbiology major with a Biochemistry minor
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nicole Buan, Department of Biochemistry
Calvin Sayre, Mechanical Engineering major
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Alexei Gruverman, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Samarpan Mohanty, Computer Engineering major
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Mona Bavarian, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Olivia Richler, Physics major with a Mathematics minor
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Robert Streubel, Department of Physics & Astronomy
Trent Davidson, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics major
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jun Wang, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Jorge Rivera Romero, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics major
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Yanan (Laura) Wang, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Kamilla Hera da Silva Pereira, Chemical Engineering major with a Chemistry minor
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. David Berkowitz, Department of Chemistry
Aram Pirali, Chemical Engineering major
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Xia Hong, Department of Physics & Astronomy
The NCESR 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.