Scholarships Targeting Academically Rising Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Students
The Calculus to Careers: Scholarships Targeting Academically Rising Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Students (STARSS) program at Southern Miss is designed to support high-achieving, Pell-grant eligible students in STEM disciplines that require Calculus I—a course that can be challenging for many.
Funded by a $1.9M grant from the National Science Foundation, STARRS is a six-year program which will offer scholarships and more to 60 full-time undergraduate students majoring in chemistry, computer science, computer engineering, forensics, geology, marine science, mathematics, ocean engineering, physics, or polymer engineering.
Scholarships
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Mentoring
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Graduate School?
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U.S. citizenship or permanent residency |
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Full-time, degree-seeking undergraduates in a STEM major requiring Calculus I |
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ACT composite score between 22 and 30 |
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High school GPA between 3.321 and 3.951 |
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Pell Grant eligible (Learn more about Federal Student Aid.) |
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Successful interview (See interview advice from Indeed.com.) |
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Our faculty mentors are Southern Miss professors in STEM fields who have a special interest in helping students succeed. They'll be happy to answer your questions about Southern Miss's STEM degree programs, and, once you have been accepted into the STARSS Program, they will be here to guide and encourage you throughout your time at Southern Miss.
Dr. Hugh Broome received his B.S. degree in 2011 from William Carey University and his Ph.D. from The University of Southern Mississippi in 2016. His Ph.D. is in the area of supramolecular chemistry, but his current position is teaching general chemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. He is interested in research that is focused on improving student learning gains in chemistry.
Professor Masterson obtained his Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry under the direction of Daniel Glatzhofer at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Masterson conducted postdoctoral studies with Dr. Ned Porter at Vanderbilt University in the areas of free radical chemistry and mass spectrometry. He began his career at USM studying the utilization of enzymes in organic synthesis to prepare novel amino acids and other small molecules of biological interest. His research interests have expanded to include the areas of chemical education and student success in science.
Dr. Heather Broadhead earned her BS degree in 2007 from William Carey University in Chemistry and Biological Sciences and her Ph.D. from The University of Southern Mississippi in polymer science and engineering in 2013 in the area of bio-reactive stimuli-responsive polymer surfaces. Dr. Broadhead's postdoctoral studies were with in the area of formulation and characterization for hair care products and oil spill remediation. Her research at USM focuses on polymers for biomedical and personal care applications with an emphasis on imparting antimicrobial activity.
Dr. Alyson Brink received her Ph.D. in geoscience/vertebrate paleontology from Texas Tech University. Her areas of expertise include vertebrate paleontology, Late Cretaceous mammals, and paleogeography.
Dr. Joris van der Ham received his Ph.D. in environmental and evolutionary biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Dr. Kemal Cambazoglu received his Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering with an emphasis on coastal engineering and minor in oceanography from Georgia Institute of Technology. His research interests include coastal ocean modeling with development of coupled ocean-wave-atmosphere modeling frameworks; near coastal hydrodynamics & sediment transport with coastal engineering applications; synthesis of model products with remote sensing, in-situ measurements and autonomous vehicle data.
Dr. Sarah Wright received her B.S. degree in 2017 and her Ph.D. from The University of Southern Mississippi in 2023. Her Ph.D. is in the area of computational mathematics and her current position is an assistant professor of teaching in mathematics. Her research interests are in numerical analysis.
Dr. Xuyang He received her Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in 2008. She specializes in forensic chemistry.
Dr. Nick Rahimi is an associate professor in the School of Computer Science and Engineering, Director of the Cyber Innovations Lab, Cybersecurity Program Coordinator, and NSA Point of Contact. His research focuses on cybersecurity, trustworthy AI, decentralized systems, brain-computer interface security, digital warfare, and computing sciences education. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s in computer science from Southern Illinois University and dual bachelor’s degrees in software engineering and information systems technologies.
Dr. Katja Biswas received a Ph.D. from Mississippi State University in 2011. Her areas of expertise are computational and statistical physics, optimization and energy landscapes, and spin glasses.
If you have any questions about the application process, please email Dr. Hugh Broome at Johnathan.BroomeFREEMississippi.
This project is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number 2424885.
