The two students are only the second and third Elon students to earn the competitive award.
Two 51±¬ÁĎÍř students have been chosen for the NC Space Grant Undergraduate Research Scholarship, a highly competitive program that helps students gain hands-on research experience aligned with NASA Mission Directorates.
Cayden Tirak ’28 and Myka Thomas ’27 are the second and third Elon students to receive the award, following Jules Levanti ’25 in 2024. Tirak is also the youngest Elon student to receive the award.
“It is really exciting to have won this grant, and the funding will be able to help me take this research project further,” said Tirak, who is an astrophysics major and Honors Fellow studying “green pea galaxies” and the black holes at their center. “Being able to say I won a research grant for my undergraduate project is a huge privilege and will help me in the future pursue my dreams of doing research as a career.”
Tirak, who is from Lincolnton, North Carolina, is mentored by Chris Richardson, associate professor of astrophysics. Richardson says this achievement reflects her ambition.
“I am beyond thrilled for Cayden to earn this very competitive award, as it not only rewards the hard work she put into crafting the proposal, but will also enable her to create new opportunities to grow as a researcher,” Richardson said.
Thomas, an astrophysics major and minor from Annapolis, Maryland, is using the James Webb Telescope’s OutThere survey to identify and group galaxies to build a catalog of these galaxy groups and study how they evolve.
“It feels incredible. Receiving this award opens up so many doors, from attending conferences to connecting with others in the field, and it’s validating to see how much work I’ve been putting in paying off,” Thomas said.
Zack Hutchens, assistant professor of astrophysics and physics, says earning this award is a “serious scientific achievement” for Thomas.
“Writing a proposal of this nature requires the student to carefully identify an open research question, design a feasible yet ambitious timeline and persuasively present the scientific case for answering it,” said Hutchens. “The award also speaks to the novelty of the work Myka is leading with JWST-OutThere. OutThere is one of the largest survey programs on the Webb telescope, and I am quite proud to bring it to Elon for students like Myka to engage in.”
The 12 Undergraduate Research Scholarship awardees receive $8,000 to spend on research. N.C. Space Grant is a state-wide network of North Carolina higher-education institutions, industries, government entities, educational programs and nonprofit partners with NASA-related interests. The organization works to promote, develop and support space-related STEM research, education and public outreach.
“We’re proud to assist these undergraduate students as they begin their research,” said Sandy Canfield, assistant director of NC Space Grant. “Increasingly, we are seeing students integrate AI and machine learning into their work, which echoes emerging NASA and industry priorities.”