Each spring, The University of Texas at Austin recognizes undergraduate students who have demonstrated unparalleled dedication and achievement in their fields of study with the UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Award.
Awards are faculty nominated. A selection committee consists of diverse faculty members.
This year, 70 undergraduate students submitted their research or creative projects in one of four categories: artistic/creative; humanities; social sciences; and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). A committee of faculty members reviewed each application and selected four from each category to recognize as semifinalists. Of the 16 semifinalists, six submissions were selected as recipients of the 2025 UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Award and four were selected for special recognition. Awardees received between $1,500 and $7,000 for each winning submission.
2025 UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Award Recipients
Gabriella Roque Olveira Nomura
Grand Prize Award: $7,000
Major: Biomedical Engineering Honors
Category: STEM
Winning Project: TriSwinUNETR Lobe Segmentation Model for Computing DIR-free CT-ventilation
Paxton Smith
Grand Prize Award: $7,000
Major: Advertising
Category: Humanities
Winning Project: A War on My Body; A War on My Rights
Xingrui Long
Award: $5,000
Major: English Honors
Category: Humanities
Winning Project: The Cybernetic Body: Modeling the Hermeneutic-Cybersocial in Neuromancer’s Recursive Governance
Anika Bhatia
Award: $5,000
Major: Psychology
Category: Social Sciences
Winning Project: The Relationship of Cognitive Intraindividual Variability to Psychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With and Without Objective Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Complaints
Cecily Gibson
Award: $5,000
Major: Plan II and Chemistry
Category: STEM
Winning Project: Circadian Disruption Alters Neuroimmune Recovery and Maternal Behavior in Postpartum Mice
Demian Chavez Galvan
Award: $5,000
Category: Artistic/Creative
Major: Theatre and Dance
Winning Project: Drama as a Methodology for Nahuatl Language Revitalization
2025 George H. Mitchell Award – Special Recognition
Chase Patterson
Award: $1,500
Major: Plan II and English
Category: Artistic/Creative
Project: Eternal Travelers: The Renga of Rangerworld
Rhea Lazar
Award: $1,500
Major: Molecular Biology
Category: Humanities
Project: Evaluating a Community-Centered Digital Health Navigation Tool: The Health Maze Program
Caroline Whitmarsh
Award: $1,500
Major: Plan II and Psychology
Category: Social Sciences
Project: Examining the Domain-General, Teacher-Rated, and Reading-Specific Working Memory
Akshara Ramasamy
Award: $1,500
Major: Psychology
Category: STEM
Project: Acute and Post-Acute Sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 Infection: A Review of Risk Factors and Social Determinants
2025 George H. Mitchell Semifinalists
Leah C. Austin, Artistic/Creative
Aveen Ghodsi Jafari, Social Sciences
Lauren Allyn Rader, Social Sciences
Rachel Schmidt, STEM
Emma Vorndran, Humanities
Grant Gilker, Artistic Creative
