About

Conference Information & Goals

With support from the Henry Luce Foundation (HSRU Seed Grant Program), the University of California at Santa Cruz and the  ADVANCE Mini-grant Program, the Physics & Astronomy (P&A) Department at UTSA will host the 2024 HSRU (Hispanic Serving Research Universities) Research Conference on June 5th, 6th, and 7th of 2024.

This conference aims to bring together faculty, postdocs, graduate, and undergraduate students from the College of Sciences (COS), as well as the Community of San Antonio and South Texas with the main objective to attract and motivate people to enroll in a Hispanic serving Institution and pursue a career in the STEM field.

This conference also aims to support the initiatives and efforts of the HSRU Alliance:

1. To encourage Hispanic students to enroll in any of the HSRU to increase Hispanic representation. 

2. To contribute to doubling enrollment of the Hispanic doctoral students in the Alliance's universities, and 

3. To empower people by training them to better face challenges in the pursuit and advancements of their careers.

Organizing  Committee

HSRU Seed Grant Program Recipient:

PI: Dr. Xochitl Lopez-Lozano, Associate Professor 

LCNT (Laboratory of Computational Nanotechnology), 

Physics & Astronomy, The University of Texas at San Antonio.

Email: Xochitl.LopezLozano@utsa.edu

Co-PI: Dr. Karin Chumbimuni Torres, Professor

University of Central Florida – Department of Chemistry.

Email: karin.chumbimunitorres@ucf.edu

Local Organizers and Participants from UTSA:

Ms. Lani Oramas – Graduate student – P&A, UTSA. 

Email: lani.oramas@utsa.edu

Dr. Priscilla Lopez– Post Doctoral Fellow – Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, UTSA. 

Email: priscilla.lopez@utsa.edu

Dr. Kelly Nash – P&A Professor & Associate Dean for Faculty Success, UTSA. Email:Kelly.Nash@utsa.edu

Dr. Elizabeth S. Sooby– P&A Associate Professor, Email: Elizabeth.sooby@utsa.edu

Participant from the University of Central Florida:

Ms. Alondra Diaz Lopez, Senior Undergraduate student – Department of Chemistry.

Email: adiazlopez@knights.ucf.edu