MSU Ph.D. student selected for prestigious national X-ray school at Argonne National Laboratory
STARKVILLE, Miss.––Mississippi State University doctoral student Mayra Vazquez-Nunez was one of only 60 graduate students in North America selected to attend the 2025 National X-ray School at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, Illinois, this summer, where she explored advanced X-ray techniques to address challenges in green chemistry.
The competitive program draws early-career graduate students from top universities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico for an intensive, fully funded, nine-day training in advanced X-ray characterization techniques. It is hosted at Argonne’s Advanced Photon Source—one of the world’s brightest sources of X-rays––and provides scholars the opportunity to use cutting-edge synchrotron instrumentation.
“I knew this program would help me gain a deeper understanding of advanced X-ray techniques by learning directly from experts at Argonne,” said Vazquez-Nunez, a Ph.D. student in MSU’s Department of Chemistry.
“I gained practical insight into experimental design and data analysis, skills that align with my current and future research. This experience also improved my scientific communication skills by giving me the opportunity to interact with experts in the field,” said Vazquez-Nunez, who currently is conducting research in the lab of MSU Associate Professor Vicky Montiel-Palma.
“Mayra possesses outstanding academic ability—easily in the top 10%, more like the top 1%, of all graduate students I’ve worked with,” said Montiel-Palma. “She stands out not only for her academic excellence but also for her work ethic, intellectual curiosity and collaborative spirit, qualities that make her an ideal candidate for an intensive, hands-on learning experience like the NX School.”
Montiel-Palma said Vazquez-Nunez’s participation in the program will bring “substantial and immediate benefits” to her laboratory’s research program.
“Mayra’s participation in the NX School directly strengthens our analytical capabilities and accelerates progress in both of our NSF-funded projects, while also enhancing our collaboration with Argonne scientists. The advanced training she received will be invaluable for her future academic career and will significantly increase her competitiveness for top-tier postdoctoral positions,” said Montiel-Palma.
The National X-ray School is funded by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences program, and aims to train the next generation of synchrotron light source users. For more information, visit https://www.anl.gov/education/national-xray-school.
For more information about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Chemistry, visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.chemistry.msstate.edu.
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