Research Pack Abroad

Connecting undergraduate students to international research experiences.

Developing Research Skills Globally

Research Pack Abroad provides undergraduate students international research experience – working side-by-side with scientists and immersed in another culture. Students are connected with a host international research institution, where they conduct research for at least 2 months during the summer.

Through this experience students will:

  • Gain in-depth of knowledge of laboratory procedures and/or field research protocols
    at an international research institute
  • Communicate scientific terminology among international researchers
  • Demonstrate knowledge of host country’s work culture and local community culture
  • Develop new perspectives on student’s native culture and the ability to think critically about student’s values, beliefs and goals
  • Develop skill sets for maneuvering through complex situations and increase capability
    to problem solve
  • Develop knowledge of a foreign language through immersion

Interested in participating in Research Pack Abroad?

  • Sophomore standing
  • Experience or strong interest in research
  • Will require support from major advisor
  • If Interested, email resume/CV and cover letter explaining research experience and where you wish to engage in Research Pack Abroad to Dr. Adrienne Tucker at adrienne_tucker@ncsu.edu

Support our students to help them participate in Research Pack Abroad to reach their maximum research potential while having a global impact. 

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Partnering Institutions

Nagoya University - Japan

Nagoya University is our newest Research Pack partner for Summer 2024. Nagoya University has been a strong research and academic partner since the 1980's. Nagoya University is located in the city of Nagoya, Japan and is one of Japan's leading research universities.

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Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias (IPLA) - Spain

IPLA is located in a Villaviciosa, a small town in western Spain.  The Institute conducts microbiology and biochemistry research focused on dairy products and the impact of gut microbiota on human health.  

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Universidad de Cuenca - Ecuador

Universidad de Cuenca is a public university located in Cuenca, Ecuador housing an Orchid Greenhouse and Faculties of Agriculture, Chemistry, Engineering, Medicine, Architecture and Urban Studies and more.

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Universitat Politècnica de València - Spain

La Universitat Politècnica de València is a university located in Valencia, Spain and focuses on academics and research in science and technology.

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2024 Summer Participants

Rebecca Shenk

Rebecca is a first-year Food Science student at NC State. She enjoys playing piano, drinking coffee, and playing board games with friends in her free time. Rebecca is conducting research at the Polytechnic University of Valencia this summer in food safety, and will be working to develop a visual indicator test for listeria, methyl-mercury, and histamines. She is excited to be back in the lab and to be gaining international perspective.

Sophia Nunez

Sophia is a sophomore majoring in Biochemistry with minors in Biotechnology and Computer Programming. Sophia will be doing research at Nagoya University in Dr. Ichiyanagi's lab. This is an epigenetics lab where I will be researching the role of promoter elements in the regulation of gene expression. With the use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we will modify long terminal repeats to observe their cis-regulatory activity. This data will be used to determine possible improvements for cancer treatments!

Tommy Godwin

Tommy is a junior studying Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and International Studies. I will be going to Nagoya University researching photorespiration and water use in rice. Global warming has been a key issue with rice production in recent years with increasing temperature lowering the rice quality and yields. The goal of the project I am working on is to increase understanding of stomatal dynamics of field grown rice under drought and heat stress.

Jacob Baker

Jacob is a junior currently getting a degree in biochemistry and a minor in genetics. I am also in CALS honors and the University Scholars program. Both organizations have made it possible to do what I am doing this summer which is studying at Nagoya University in Japan under Dr. Ichiyanagi. I will be studying the differences between human and chimpanzee cells after they have begun growing. This research aims to see how epigenetic gene regulation via histone modification and DNA methylation affect the phenotype of the human and chimpanzee cells as they mature. Human and chimpanzees share 98% of their genomes with each other but are obviously different, so we are studying those small differences to better understand how gene regulation works. I will be receiving class credit for this course and will be presenting my research at the fall symposium.

Zoe Tobien

Zoe is a rising sophomore who was initially undecided, starting in exploratory studies, and is now in environmental science. I’ve discovered an interest in agriculture and paired with the strong desire I’ve always had to study abroad, I figured this opportunity was great! My interest lies at the intersection of the environment and agriculture, especially in sustainable agriculture and how climate change will continue to affect unpredictability for farmers. My research in Valencia, Spain will center on the amino acid content of organic vs non-organic tomatoes.

2023 Participants

Renee Long

Renee is a senior in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and is conducting research at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. Renee is working with Valencia Club Cocina to research gastronomy and food nutrition. She also gets to experience how a small business operates in Spain by assisting in some of the operational details of the cooking clubs business.

Renee's Research

Cormac Holland

Cormac, a sophomore in Horticultural Science (Production Systems & Entrepreneurship) is spending the summer in Ecuador at the Universidad de Cuenca studying organic matter accumulation and nutrient cycling through litterfall collection procedures at several native and non-native tree plantations. Ecuador saw some of the highest deforestation rates on the planet between 1990-2015, so this information will provide science-backed research for reforestation / rewilding projects and reference data for new environmentally-friendly policies in the country.

Cormac's Research

Brady Farlow

Brady is a junior double-majoring in Horticultural Science (Plant Breeding & Biotechnology) and Spanish. He contributes to research on sustainable urban Landscape Design & Management, focusing on cataloging campus tree species and their carbon dioxide sequestration potential. Additionally, Brady is involved in other research related to the synergies between green spaces and their utilization for enhancing "climate comfort," studying how these areas can optimize environmental conditions and promote well-being.

Brady's Research

Nicolas Mastrovito

Nicolas is a senior in Biochemistry and is conducting research at Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias (IPLA). He is helping IPLA to quantify certain antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) found in the gut microbiota of elderly subjects. This work will help to determine whether the level of ARGs in the human microbiota is associated with age, specific dietary habits, and microbiota composition. These findings could be useful for improving digestive health and preventing the spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes.

Nicolas's Research

Ashmi Dagar

Ashmi is a senior studying Agricultural Science with a minor in Agroecolgy and Agribusiness Management and is spending her summer in Spain researching sustainable farming practices at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. Her research in Valencia involves analyzing extensive data sets, aiming to understand the impact of organic farming methods on the yield and quality of almond crops.

Ashmi's Research

2019 Participants

Kelsey Kolar

Kelsey is a Biochemsitry student and conducted research at Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias, where she analyzed BlaSHV gene trends between term length and antibiotic treatment for infants over time. Kelsey's project was just a piece of the puzzle in developing early-life interventions to promote the establishment of health microbiota to reduce the risk of early-life and correlated diseases. Kelsey will be graduating in May 2020 and has her sights set on continuing in life sciences research.

Eric Schneider

Eric is majoring in biochemistry with a minor in biotechnology and conducted research at Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias. Eric's research was a portion of the greater project to understand how Lactococcus lactis responds to cell wall damage.

Critobal Cisneros

Critobal, an Agroecology student, conducted soil moisture research at Universitat Politecnica de Valencia. Cristobal worked with Chufa, which is yellow nutsedge, and is used to make hortchata in Valencia.

Bartolome Cisneros

Bartolome is a Biochemistry major who conducted onology research at Universitat Polticnica de Valencia. Bartolome worked along graduate students in the lab using an HPLC to quantify polyphenols in wine grapes.

Alexandra Veverka

Alexandra is double majoring in plant and soil science with a concentration in crop biotechnology and Spanish language and literature. Alex conducted research at Universitat Polticnica de Valencia in biofumigation - using chemicals naturally found in plants to incorporate into the soil and eliminate pests issues.

2018 Participants

Jasmeen Kaur Mandair

Jasmeen graduated with a BSc. in Biochemistry in May 2018. Jasmeen conducted research at Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias with a focus on developing technologies to create new food products by using the residue of Caseiculture, Milk Whey. Her research targeted two main objectives: developing nutritional beverages for people who are allergic to cow milk and reducing environmental waste by using milk whey as a key ingredient in those beverages.

Kirby Morris

Kirby, Senior in Biochemistry and Spanish, conducted research at Instituto de Productos Lácteos de Asturias. Kirby researched the binding abilities of two chimeric proteins containing the SH3 domains of Staph bacteriophage endolysins LysRODI and LysIPLA5 to address Staphylococcus antibiotic resistance.

Mark Watson

Mark, Senior in Horticultural Sciences and Crop and Soil Sciences, conducted research at the International Potato Center. Mark worked in the field and the lab to characterize micronutrients in potato varieties grown in Peru to address health needs.

Follow the research pack's adventures Past Blog Posts

Nov 15, 2023

Sustainable Agriculture Research in Spain

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Nov 15, 2023

Local Food and Culture Research in Spain

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Nov 15, 2023

Healthy Gut Microbiome Research in Spain

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