Marshal Dong

Major and Minor: Physics/CS, BusinessJapanese

Area of Research: Digital Humanities

Faculty Mentor: Keith Vincent

How did you get involved in research?

Took a Japanese literature class with Prof. Vincent and got invited to help him with his project.

How did you meet your mentor?

By taking his class (LJ480).

What has your UROP experience taught you?

How to self-learn skills (namely React and Neo4j), how to work independently.

How has this experience helped you with non-research related things at BU?

I developed a greater appreciation of Japanese literature and poetry, which strengthened my belief that a Japanese minor is worth the time and effort.

What does a day in your research life look like?

Coffee, look at the list of things to be done, try a few things, think about why things don’t work, coffee, look up documentations/stackoverflow/ChatGPT, make things work, coffee, update my log, commit.

What advice would you give to someone interested in UROP?

Be proactive and accountable. Our project started when Professor Vincent asked me whether I could fix a WordPress site. Although I was rusty with JavaScript, I quickly brought the site back online, then the small bugfix became a full-fledged web application and database development project, and I taught myself React and Neo4j. I constantly learn new React and database tricks and Japanese poetic knowledge, and my work has facilitated Professor Vincent’s teaching and research.