UNDERGRADUATE INTERNATIONAL

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE 2023

The Undergrad International Research Experience is conceived as a research project hosted and funded by the Puentes Consortium, aiming to contribute and enhance research skills and collaboration among groups of undergraduate students and professors from Puentes member Universities. See previous student experiences here. 

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GOALS

• To develop cooperation and foster institutional collaboration between undergraduate students amongst Puentes members.
• To develop an international research agenda on social, economic, political, technological, environmental, and cultural challenges for the future of US-Mexico relations in a global context.
• To enhance knowledge for decision making through impactful academic publications (i.e. white papers on policy recommendations, scientific papers, book chapters, conference posters, etc.).
• To understand Mexican and U.S perceptions in policy making from a scientific approach, as students will participate in a trans-disciplinary research experience.

DELIVERABLES FROM PROJECT

• Academic papers
• Potential scientific publication of research works
• Valuable International research experience in a collaborative international setting

INTERNATIONAL RESERACH EXPERIENCE TOPICS IN U.S. & MEXICO

What to expect:

• Students receive academic credits from participating in this experience and become co-authors in scientific publications.
• Students are mentored and supervised by Puentes International Faculty from U.S. and Mexican universities.
• 2023 Summer Program will take place in Monterrey Mexico entailing 2 phases:
• (1) International Research Summer Workshop: The students will go through short training on research methodologies and transdisciplinary mentoring sessions at the in-person workshop in Monterrey, Mexico. Students will work in binational research groups and will develop the baseline research question to ourseu their project throughout the fall semester.
• (2) Fall Research Semester: students MUST register a research course** to conclude their research projects and obtain credit validation.
• 25 students will be selected and funded to participate in the program. Five students from each Puentes’ University (U. of Miami, UDLAP, RICE, UDEM and ITESM).

*Academic credits and course registration may vary by university. Puentes mentors will advise students on available courses during the fall semester suitable for credit validation.

RESEARCH TOPICS

“The future of the U.S.–Mexico relations” analyzed through four core areas

• Human Rights & Migration
• Border Economics
• Trade and Investment (USMCA)
• U.S. -Mexico Bilateral Relations

IMPORTANT DATES

March 31, 2023 – Application Submission Deadline

June 19 – 23, 2023 – Summer Workshop in Monterrey, Mexico

August – December 2023 – Research Project Conclusion and Delivery

INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE PUENTES FACULTY

Dina Moulioukova, University of Miami

Dina Moulioukova holds Ph.D. in International Relations from University of Miami and Master of Law Degree LL.M. in International Trade and Business Law at the University of Arizona. Prior to her studies at the University of Arizona, as a recipient of Cambridge Overseas Trust-Clifford Chance-Punder scholarship for Russian Federation, Dr Moulioukova completed her LL.M. Degree in International Law at the University of Cambridge. Currently Dr. Moulioukova teaches courses on security at the Department of Political Science, Master of International Administration, and Department of International Studies at the University of Miami, where she as well serves as a Director of Undergraduate Studies. Dr.Moulioukova is a co-founder of Global Security Initiative that has for the last eight years hosted international interdisciplinary security symposium and round table discussions at the University of Miami. Dr. Moulioukova has also widely published on the topics of her research and co-edited four edited volumes. In addition to her academic interests, she has been engaged in a number of US Agency for International Development and Library of Congress’ projects on post-Soviet space and has served as an expert in round table discussions by Council on Foreign Relations and USSOUTHCOM.

Jorge Ibarra, Tec De Monterrey

Jorge Ibarra Salazar Ph.D. is an associate professor of the Economics Department at the Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM).He has a MA in Economics and a PhD in Economics from SMU, a MA in Industrial Economics from the Universidad Autónomade Nuevo León, and a BA in Economics from ITESM. His teaching areas are microeconomics, industrial organization and uncertainty in economics. His research focuses on local public finance, urban economics, economic regulation, and models of the firm under risk. During his stay at Baker Institute he investigated the determinants of municipal fiscal revenue, and how fiscal institutions may influence the response of local governments to federal grants. He has been the Director of the Economics Department at ITESM, and was Director of Technical and Scientific Cooperation in the Mexican Federal Government during 2005-2007. He has conducted research projects and consulting to private firms, and to both federal and subnational levels of governments in Mexico. He is currently part of the Mexican Research Association (SNI) level I.

Karla Nava, Universidad de Monterrey

Karla María Nava Aguirre holds a Ph.D. in Administrative Sciences from Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas (UAT) Mexico(PNPC CONACYT), a Global MBA for Latin American Managers at Thunderbird, School of Global Management & Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM), and BA in International Studies at Universidad de Monterrey UDEM(Cum Laude award). She is also Specialist in Mexico – United States Border Studies from El Colef, México. She was director of the undergraduate International Business Program at UAT from 2005 to 2015. Since 2017 Dr. Nava is professor and researcher of International Business at UDEM Business School. She is a current member of the Academic of International Business (AIB) and chair at the Teaching & Learning in International Business track of AIB LAC annual conferences, member of the Mexican Association of International Studies (AMEI), the Academy of Administrative Sciences (ACACIA) and the Mexican Academy of Sciences (AMC). Dr. Nava has participated in projects for the Secretary of Education in Mexico, Global Partners in Education (GPE) and for international institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently. Member of the National System of Researchers (SNI) from CONACYT in México.

Nia Georges, Rice University

Eugenia Georges is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Rice University. She hasconducted research in the Dominican Republic on the implications of transnational migration for gender and class hierarchies and on the political mobilization of Dominican immigrants in New York City. She has also conducted research in Greece and Brazil that examines how pregnancy, childbirth and obstetrical practice have been shaped in interaction with a range of reproductive technologies. She is the author of Bodies of Knowledge: The Medicalization of Reproduction in Greece (Vanderbilt University Press) and The Making of a Transnational Community: Migration, Development and Cultural Change in the Dominican Republic (Columbia University Press). Her course, International Research Experience, prepares undergraduate students to conduct a fieldwork-based project in an international setting.. She has received numerous teaching awards,including Rice University’s Nicholas Salgo Award, the Presidential Mentoring Award and is a four-time recipient of the George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching.