UWF’s Dr. Shusen Pu selected as 2025 CUR Mentor Award recipient

The Council on Undergraduate Research has named University of West Florida Department of Mathematics and Statistics professor Dr. Shusen Pu the 2025 Mathematical and Computing Sciences Early Career Faculty Mentor Award recipient. The national honor recognizes his work mentoring undergraduates at UWF; it’s the first time a UWF faculty member has earned this distinction.

“I am deeply honored to receive this national award, which reflects the creativity and dedication of the students I have been privileged to mentor,” Pu said. “Supporting undergraduates as they grow into confident researchers is one of the most rewarding parts of my work. I sincerely appreciate the continued support and funding provided to our students by the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, and the Office of Undergraduate Research.”

The Mathematical, Computing, and Statistical Sciences Division of CUR announced three awards to honor mentors for their success in mentoring undergraduate students in research. One award was made in each of the following categories: Early Career, Mid Career and Advanced Career. Recipients are selected based on their record of undergraduate student mentoring, including the number of students mentored; evidence of professional development of students mentored; and evidence of impact and success.

Pu joined the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UWF as an assistant professor in 2022. He received his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Case Western Reserve University in 2020. Before joining UWF, Pu worked as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Vanderbilt University. Over the past three years at UWF, Pu has mentored more than 40 undergraduate students. His mentees have delivered more than 30 presentations at national and international conferences — including the Joint Mathematics Meetings, National Conference on Undergraduate Research, MAA MathFest and Society for Neuroscience annual meeting — and have co‑authored multiple peer‑reviewed publications.

Pu’s current research spans mathematical statistics, neural network modeling and mathematical biology, with a particular focus on computational neuroscience and the statistical analysis of experimental data. Recently, Pu, along with his students, researched science, mathematics and computer technology to understand our brains better. Using computer simulations and advanced modeling techniques, Pu and his students constructed computational models that capture the complex interactions between brain cells.

“Conducting research with Dr. Pu has always pushed me to engage with different fields, which has allowed me to connect and convey my research effectively,” said Dylan Wright ‘24.

For more information on the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering, visit uwf.edu/hmcse.