Friday, March 7, 2025
The Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program, which debuted in Fall 2024, is a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board research scholarship and leadership opportunity program for high-achieving graduate students with financial need.
University of North Texas is among only nine public universities in the state selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the program, which awards selected doctoral researchers a nearly $18,000 scholarship renewable for up to four years.
“This program is not only bringing financial support for these doctoral researchers to continue their education, but also giving them access to a peer network and mentoring that will help set them up for career success after they graduate,” says Brenda Barrio, UNT assistant vice president for research and innovation.
A total of six UNT students were named in the first cohort of Texas Leadership Research Scholars — Garrett Cayce in the College of Engineering; Araceli Herrera Mondragon, Celeste Ortega-Rodriguez and Jose Robledo in the College of Science; Christian Quintero in the College of Education; and Emma Wimberg in the College of Music.
Check back on this UNT Research webpage throughout Spring 2025 to learn more about students in the inaugural group of Texas Leadership Research Scholars.
Investigating A New Tech Material
UNT College of Science's Araceli Herrera Mondragon
As the first in her family to earn a bachelor’s degree and now to pursue a Ph.D., Araceli Herrera Mondragon’s (’24) college journey hasn’t been without its challenges. But being named a co-author on three published research articles as an undergraduate, earning an internship at Sandia National Laboratory last August and now being named a Texas Leadership Research Scholar has given the physics doctoral student an affirming perspective that she’s walking down the right path.
“Araceli is an exceptional individual who truly embodies the values of leadership and research innovation,” says physics professor Yuankun Lin, whose lab is where Mondragon has done her research the past few years.
Mondragon started working in Lin’s lab in Summer 2023 — a few semesters before finishing her bachelor’s degree. The position is supported by a U.S. Department of Energy grant UNT earned that year to lead a new consortium to further the science and applications of emerging semiconducting materials.
“I thought I had to know a lot of stuff before I did research,” Mondragon says. “I
was a little scared when I started, but that first day, Dr. Lin said with research,
‘We first gather everything and then we try to make sense of it. You don’t need to
worry about having all the knowledge right now.’”
Since then, Mondragon has learned a wealth of information about laser optics and investigating perovskite materials, which are being actively explored for their potential in next-generation semiconductor technology — the fundamental building blocks of electronics.
Mondragon is using lasers to better understand the durability of perovskite and whether it could be suitable enough to withstand the harsh and extreme conditions that electronics are exposed to. As a Texas Leadership Research Scholar, Mondragon can seek out opportunities to share those research contributions more widely at conferences and other professional events.
“I feel like I’m in the right place. I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and everything is showing me that,” Mondragon says.
From UNT News – Research and Innovation by Heather Noel