"The David Scholars application was not that difficult and it was definitely worth it. This program has given me the opportunity to attend two professional conferences, where I met many prominent researchers in the field of plasma physics. It also allowed me to do research over the summer and still get paid."

"One of the most challenging problems that I have faced is research itself. Or rather, when things go wrong. The theory always works out perfect. Actual application, however, can be a different story. Because of the numerous variables involved in an experiment, any factor could be the cause of a failed experiment. While this can be frustrating at times, I believe the methodical determination of why something went wrong has taught me infinitely more about science and and the research process than any experiment that has worked perfectly the first time through."

Kevin Vogeli

Kevin Vogeli calls his two years as a David Scholar in the laboratory of Professor Richard Harland "the best education possible for an undergraduate interested in doing basic science research." Kevin made such significant contributions to the lab's work on the molecular underpinnings of early embryonic cell development that he was named as one of the authors of an article that was featured as a cover article in Nature ("Dishevelled controls cell polarity during Xenopus gastrulation," Nature 2000 May 4; 405 (6782): 81-5. He also co-authored an article for the International Journal of Developmental Biology, "Regulation of convergent extension in Xenopus by Wnt5a and Frizzled-8 is independent of the canonical Wnt pathway," [2001:45 (1 Spec No): 225-7].

Kevin says that the David Scholars award "opened other doors as I was selected to participate in the undergraduate research program at Cold Spring Harbor during the summer of my junior year." Kevin is now in the Tetrad program, a joint graduate program in the biological sciences at UCSF.