First Cohort of NSF NRT Student Trainees Share Value of Interdisciplinary Research
The first cohort of trainees of the NSF NRT Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources grant share the value of the program’s interdisciplinary research, stipends, curriculum, seminars, and faculty mentorship. Applications are now open to be a trainee for the fall 2025 semester.
In 2023, Ozlem Ergun, a distinguished professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, received a $3 million highly competitive national research traineeship (NRT) grant from the National Science Foundation for “Platforms for Exchange and Allocation of Resources (PEAR).” PEAR studies the “positive and negative economic, social, and environmental” effects of digital platforms, such as Uber, Airbnb, and Venmo, on society, while training students who are in “research-based master’s and doctoral degree programs” and working in “high priority interdisciplinary or convergent research areas.”
The first cohort of trainees recently completed a semester in PEAR. The program, which encourages interdisciplinary reasoning, is focused on broadening the minds of young researchers to analyze problems holistically and design solutions that serve a wider variety of people. Through funding, a curated curriculum, mentorship, and monthly seminars, students gain resources, knowledge, experience, and connections supporting their academic and professional careers.
The value of multidisciplinary research was what drove Northeastern University students, Christopher Curtis, PhD ’26, artificial intelligence; Josh Rosen, PhD’27, computational social science; and Mahnaz Vahdat, PhD ’28, interdisciplinary engineering, to apply for PEAR.
Christopher Curtis, PhD ’26, artificial intelligence
Curtis, whose expertise is in software engineering and artificial intelligence, wants to understand the relevance economics, urban science, and other unfamiliar subjects have on his specialty.
“To really get to the frontier of your field you need multidisciplinary experience. And, for your personal development, you need to delve into unfamiliar territory,” Curtis says.
The PEAR program allows Curtis to expand his mental framework through many learning opportunities. He was particularly inspired by the Big Data for Cities course taught by Daniel O’Brien, professor of public policy and urban affairs, and criminology and criminal justice, where he had a semester-long group project looking at a big-data set of Boston violent crime 911 calls. The project’s goal was to define a new metric in the data. Findings indicated that certain violent crimes occur within a couple blocks of each other. The multidisciplinary lens of the project was to justify the relevance of the new metric to the community by asking members their impressions of the problem.
Curtis valued the real-world experience the course gave him. “I think, especially with theoretical skills, you have to learn by doing and you need to do it, not under ideal circumstances, but in unfamiliar ones,” he says.
This semester, Curtis wants to get more involved in the PEAR program by going to seminars and exploring research avenues with his new PEAR mentor Alicia Sasser Modestino, associate professor of public policy and urban affairs, and economics.
Josh Rosen, PhD’27, computational social science
Rosen, whose major is in computational social science, appreciates the curated PEAR courses because they aren’t within his research interests. He values the opportunity to view digital platforms with multiple lenses from classes, seminars, other students, and PEAR faculty. These interdisciplinary conversations are what encourage Rosen to examine the impact that platforms, like Uber or Venmo, have on urban systems outside of his focus in computational social science.
As for stipends from PEAR, Rosen says, “It opens up all these opportunities to approach faculty and say, ‘I’m fully funded. Let’s have a conversation about starting a project.’” He started a research project with Brennan Klein, an associate research scientist at the Network Science Institute, using mobility data to see how people travel around the city. The goal is to understand how platforms affect the movement of people in cities and “without PEAR this collaboration wouldn’t be possible,” Rosen says.
Mentorship through PEAR helps students understand future opportunities. With his formal PEAR mentor, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Babak Heydari, and informal mentors, Rosen explores new avenues for potential collaborations on interdisciplinary work. He continues to be surprised by how many paths there are to study digital platforms and “how interesting the topic can be.”
Mahnaz Vahdat, PhD ’28, interdisciplinary engineering
Prior to joining Northeastern, Vahdat was working as a software engineer but felt that she wasn’t pursuing all her interests. As an interdisciplinary engineering PhD student, she is learning how problems in electrical engineering affect people. “I want to learn more about social science so I can apply it to my work. To solve a problem with data analysis you need to know the behavior of the users,” she says.
PEAR is helping Vahdat explore the intersections of her interests. One avenue that is feeding her multidisciplinary curiosities is research analyzing how to implement human behavior, environmental conditions, and building properties when optimizing smart thermostats with Michael Kane, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Focusing on improving the technology is not the best way to increase the efficiency of the thermostat, considering external factors such as occupant comfort results in a more compatible and efficient product,” she says.
Vahdat’s project aligns with PEAR’s mission as she is exploring the social impact of digital platforms and through that work, she is developing equitable and sustainable energy solutions. She says, “The multidisciplinary seminars, coursework, and mentorship are helping me foster relationships with various professionals. PEAR has given me more confidence to ask for help from faculty in other departments who can help me so I can better shape my research to be more equitable and sustainable.”
For this semester, Vahdat is looking forward to connecting with her PEAR mentor Associate Professor of Marketing Yakov Bart. With his background in marketing, she hopes he can offer a new perspective to improve her research.
Bart and Dave Kaeli, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, are co-teaching a new interdisciplinary course developed for PEAR and its associated certificate program. The course, Fundamentals of the Platform Economy, is open to all PhD students and provides insight into the technological, economic, and managerial aspects of digital platforms. Students will explore the platform economy and examine how digitalization is transforming industries.
PEAR gives trainees the opportunity to advance as academics and grow as professionals through interdisciplinary research, courses, seminars, and mentorship. To learn more and apply for the fall 2025 semester, visit the PEAR website.