Engaged Research Grounded in Catholic Social Tradition

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At the Institute for Social Concerns, students work with communities around the globe to research real-world challenges in ways that honor human dignity, subsidiarity, and the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable. Rooted in Catholic social tradition, engaged research emphasizes mutual partnerships, critical reflection, and a commitment to justice.

Through these experiences and this research, students cultivate the moral imagination, practical wisdom, and courage to act necessary to be leaders for the common good. They learn to integrate classroom knowledge with lived realities, to listen deeply and act responsibly, and to discern how their vocation can respond to the most urgent needs of our time.

Recent Projects

Research for the Common Good Award Recipients

A select group of students enrolled in NDBridge and Social Concerns Summer Fellowships receive Research for the Common Good Awards each year. These students present their research at an annual symposium and receive up to $5,000 to continue their research during the next academic year. Below are a number of examples of their outstanding work.

Brett Foster ’25 (fall)

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Foundations of Business

During his time in San Juan de Lurigancho, Lima, Peru through the Social Concerns Summer Fellowship program at the Institute for Social Concerns, Brett worked with children with disabilities and their families. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Brett was able to focus his research on addressing the neurological basis of the movement disabilities he encountered in Peru. In the summer of 2025, he worked with Burke Neurological Institute, an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medicine, and studied the neural circuits that are implicated in movement. Through this work, he was able to play a role in identifying the interactions of different brain regions that initiate complex movement. Ultimately, this work can be used to develop therapies for neurological disorders that hinder motion. This contributes to the common good and continues Brett’s mission of treating disabilities by addressing the biological underpinnings of movement disorders. His experiences have helped him discover the direction he wants to take his professional career. From this experience emerged the product “Glutamatergic Pedunculopontine Nucleus (PPN) Projections as Mediators of Locomotion.”

“My project contributes to the common good and continues my mission of treating disabilities by addressing the biological underpinnings of movement disorders. Experiences like this and my summer completing biomedical research are what drives me towards a future as a physician equipped with the skills and knowledge to treat children facing disabilities while providing the support families might not find otherwise.”

Ty Harrington ’26

Major: Program of Liberal Studies, Glynn Family Honors Program

With the funding he received from the Research for Common Good Award, Ty continued his investigation into the relationship between religion and ecology that he first asked as part of my Social Concerns Summer Fellowship at Summer Fellow at Govardhan Ecovillage in Mumbai India. 

His research goal was, and remains, to portray a model of God and the natural world according to which the natural world bears supreme religious significance to Christian believers. He was able to spend part of the 2025 summer at the Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, Connecticut, and the Monastery of Christ in the Desert in Abiquiu, New Mexico.  While there he examined the Catholic Benedictine model of environmental care and how it might construct a philosophical-theological model of divine immanence. His research over both summers culminates with his senior thesis. 

“While Benedictine monasteries are best known for their motto ora et labora, or ‘prayer and work,’ what living at a Benedictine monastery reveals is that those two activities, while rightfully distinct, are by no means toward disparate ends. All human actions, whether prayer or work, are, according to St. Benedict, considered in the context of the spiritual life, and are thereby endowed with sacred significance.”

Sydney Park ’27

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Peace Studies

Through NDBridge, Sydney worked with Alliance for Positive Change, a non-profit organization in New York City that provides healthcare to underserved individuals. Her research focused on how stigma and inequitable policies in higher healthcare spaces affect NYC’s low-income patient advocacy—and specifically contribute to increased rates of undiagnosed HIV/Hep-C—in the community. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Sydney was able to conduct additional research on a question of the common good in the summer of 2025. Under the guidance of Laura Miller-Graff, she worked with the Building Resilience After Violence Exposure (BRAVE) lab, which examines the developmental effects of exposure to violence and trauma in childhood. With this research, she is producing a report detailing the significance of external stressors on children and how factors such as war and famine affect childhood development.

“What drew me to this lab is the fact that its research informs it to develop empirically validated treatment practices that can be implemented in a community setting with underprivileged families, allowing for an opportunity to directly better my immediate community.”

Caroline Petrikas ’27

Major: Political Science, Minor: Foundations of Business and Constitutional Law, Glynn Family Honors Program

As part of the 2024 NDBridge cohort, Caroline worked with Forum Connemara in Letterfrack, Ireland, to help facilitate the integration of Ukrainian refugees into Irish society. Observing how vulnerable populations can be silenced sparked her broader interest in invisibility and accountability. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Caroline developed a question about invisibility within transnational justice and international law. In the summer of 2025, she traveled to The Hague, The Netherlands, and investigated these questions vis-à-vis the International Criminal Court (ICC). By connecting her work in Ireland with this broader examination of justice, she attempted to better understand how invisibility operates across borders and scales. She concluded her research by producing a paper “Justice or Jargon: The ICC’s Struggle for International Legitimacy.”

“Although the ICC has made some progress in the quest for global justice, in the modern day, its authority is rapidly dwindling. Today, the ICC is little more than a symbol of justice. But tomorrow, even that might be a stretch. If the Court does not reform and strengthen the Rome Statute’s enforcement mechanisms, it will forfeit its remaining credibility and relevance.”

Jenifer Solano ’27

Major: Neuroscience and Behavior, Minor: Chemistry

Through Jenifer’s 2024 NDBridge experience working with returning citizens in Columbus, Ohio, her research question focused on the pervasive issue of food insecurity among incarcerated individuals and its detrimental effects on their health and well-being. That experience expanded her understanding of what healing requires and deepened her commitment to medicine as a vehicle for justice. 

As a result of the Research for the Common Good Award, Jenifer was able to pursue a new question rooted in equity and care. In the summer of 2025, she focused on how trauma-responsive, bilingual social-work interventions impact socioemotional resilience and family stability in immigrant households. Because of these two experiences, she feels better prepared for a future career as a healthcare professional. Based on her research, she is developing a Google Site that not only shares trauma-informed, culturally responsive resources for families and service providers but also includes an overview of her research and the key insights that shaped her work.

“The site highlights the origins of the project—from my time at ARCH to my interviews with social workers—and presents findings in a visually accessible format that centers community voices. Through research, education, and outreach, I plan to continue to walk alongside the communities I hope to serve in my future career as a healthcare professional—grounding each step in trust, responsiveness, and care.”

McNeill Common Good Fellows

The McNeill Common Good Fellows are a community of students from across all Notre Dame colleges committed to exploring life’s biggest questions through shared coursework, community engagement, faculty-mentored research, and adventure. Here are a few highlights from their research.

Charlie Desnoyers ’26

Major: Chemisty

As a chemistry student, Charlie is interested in the implementation of harm-reduction-based drug checking tools as ways for people who use drugs to safely and effectively check what substance they are taking. Scalable drug checking devices can not only be used to save someone from a potential fentanyl overdose by easily detecting this harmful and potent substance; they can also prevent the wrongful arrest and sentencing of an innocent person when a forensic drug test comes up as a false positive.

His related research focuses on developing technologies to analyze vaccines, including looking at expired or falsified vaccines, and understanding how these vaccines work to develop better ones. This research was inspired by reports of expiring vaccines and the need to develop rigorous yet accessible testing for impurities. This is one small piece of research in a much larger issue of falsified pharmaceuticals.

“By getting a robust understanding of the issue, both scientifically and from first-hand experiences, I am able to finetune my approach to the project. Through the fellowship, I have been able to work with local pharmacists and practitioners not only in rural, low-resource areas in the United States but also internationally.” 

Solbee Kang ’27

Major: Electrical Engineering

As an electrical engineering student, Solbee researches wireless communications at Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute. She has recently focused specifically on the implications of satellite internet services like Starlink. While satellite internet is advertised to enhance connectivity for rural and marginalized communities without access to broadband internet, it still fails to meet the minimum standards for reliable internet set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In addition, the cheapest initial setup costs easily exceed a couple hundred dollars, with recurring fees of $120+ that further burden low-income users, making it out of reach and unsustainable for the communities it advertises to and intends to serve. 

Solbee’s research critically assesses the reliability of satellite internet and its potential to address digital equity. She also examines the ethical and safety concerns of privatizing internet access, as seen in situations like the war in Ukraine, where a single entity can control connectivity. In addition, there are concerns with satellite internet causing potential interference issues with airline tracking systems or GPS technology in vehicles. And at the same time, at the Wireless Institute, she explore the benefits and innovation that the new technology and investment can bring with satellite. By exploring both the potential and the concerns of satellite internet as well as potential safe and affordable alternatives, such as community broadband initiatives, her work aims to ensure that technological advancements serve marginalized communities effectively.

“By combining my academic work in wireless communications with a commitment to social justice, I hope to contribute to a global understanding of spectrum sovereignty and broadband equity that supports Indigenous communities.”