Educator’s Month – Molecules & models: A virtual science fair

As part of Educator’s Month, Schrödinger hosted its first Virtual Science Fair on June 12, 2025. This free event invited undergraduate students from across the U.S. to showcase their research, engage in discussions with Schrödinger judges, and compete for awards recognizing their creativity, effort, and commitment.

The Virtual Science Fair was open to first-time undergraduate participants from a wide range of disciplines. All projects were required to include a computational component, such as artificial intelligence, experimental design, or molecular modeling in fields including drug discovery, agrochemicals, materials science, medicinal and organic chemistry, pharmaceuticals, polymers, catalysis, computational biology, biophysics, or theoretical chemistry.

Winners received a cash prize and one year of unlimited access to Schrödinger’s online certification courses – supporting both their research and ongoing computational skill development.

Presentation Recordings

• Computational Design of de novo Transcription Factors for Targeted Genetic Repression
  Speaker:
  Beau Lonnquist, University of Washington, (science fair winner)
  Watch now
  
• Modeling Molecular Scale Dynamics of Kinetically Gated Carbon Dioxide Capture Using Photoswitch Functionality in Metal Organic Frameworks
  Speaker:
  Ryan Miller, Pacific University, (science fair winner)
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• Molecular Basis of Adenylyl Cyclase 1 Activation Revealed by MD Simulations
  Speaker:
  Shreya Krishnan, Purdue University, (science fair winner)
  Watch now 
• Repurposing L-Type Calcium Channel Blockers as Respiratory Virus Therapeutics: A Computational Modeling Approach
  Speaker:
  Aiden T. Day, Saint Joseph’s College of Maine
  Watch now

• Discovery of FabG Inhibitors for Yersinia pestis Using Computational and Biochemical Approaches
  Speaker:
  Catalina Colling, University of Texas at Austin
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• Analyzing the Value of Machine Learning in Improving the Acceptance Rate for Metropolis Monte Carlos
  Speaker:
  Enoch Woldu, University of Chicago
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• Comparative Molecular Drug Docking to hERG and CaV1.2- Channels to Understand Drug-Induced Cardiac Risks
  Speaker:
  Ensley Jang, University of California, Davis
  Watch now 
• Computational Development of a Hydrolase with Increased Degradation Capabilities Against Crystalline PET
  Speaker:
  Mena Boggs, NCSSM/NC State University
  Watch now

• Protein and Solvent Dynamics Simulations to Understand Cancer Mutations
  Speaker:
  Michael Sarullo, Yale University
  Watch now 
• Dynamic Docking: A Scalable Computational Framework for Conformational Profiling of Small Molecule/RNA Binding
  Speaker:
  Nakul Balaji, Florida Atlantic University
  Watch now

• Discovery of Aza-stilbene as a Scaffold for a Histamine Receptor H2 Antagonist for the Treatment of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
  Speaker:
  Nihar Kummetha, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics
  Watch now 
• Analyzing Quantum Exceptional Point Invisibility for Experimentally Realizable Triple-Gaussian Potentials
  Speaker:
  Shrikar Dulam, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
  Watch now

• Deep Learning–Based Structural Modeling of YscF Mutants Reveals Determinants of Type III Secretion System Architecture in Yersinia pestis
  Speaker:
  Stephanie Bellido, Nova Southeastern University
  Watch now 
• Extending the Functionality of the Excel-to-SBOL Converter for Broader Synthetic Biology Applications
  Speaker:
  Taisiia Sherstiukova, University of Colorado Boulder
  Watch now

• BitBIRCH: Efficiently Clustering 1 Billion Molecules
  Speaker:
  Vicky Jung, University of Florida
  Watch now