Atomic-Level Student Research

February 2026

At many universities, student researchers rarely get the chance to use a transmission electron microscope (TEM), a high-powered tool capable of capturing 3D microscopic images at atomic resolution. At BYU, undergraduate students will have access to two TEMs in the newly expanded Eyring Science Center.

“We actually encourage the students to use them—to come and say, ‘This was my project. This was my idea. I got the training, I prepared the samples, I imaged them, I published that paper,’” says Felipe Rivera, director of the microscopy facility.

Grant Jensen, dean of the BYU College of Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences, hopes BYU students using the TEMs will be the first to catalog 3D images of human cells. “We are going to assign each student [a cell type] and let them discover for the world what is inside,” he says.

TEM experience will give BYU-trained scientists the competitive advantage of real-world skills, says Jensen. He believes that the equipment will provide new understanding of God’s creations.

Rivera agrees, “I believe that Heavenly Father allows us to have these tools so that we can better understand how He did what He did and [how to] become like He is.”

Donations from friends like you provide inspiring learning opportunities for BYU students, including hands-on TEM research. Appropriated funds from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pay for equipment and most facilities at BYU.