University of North Texas 
The Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program, which debuted in Fall 2024, is a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board research scholarship and leadership opportunity program for high-achieving graduate students with financial need.
Throughout grade school, Cristina Castillo (’19, ’21 M.S.) became fascinated with all things physics and chemistry but decided to study engineering at Tarrant County Community College — later enrolling at UNT in 2013.
In her first year at TCC, Castillo had an important conversation about her passions
with a concerned professor who saw engineering wasn’t where she truly belonged — in
fact she required a different, difficult challenge.
“I told him I love to know how things work and why,” Castillo says. “He said, ‘You’re never going to learn that as an engineer. That’s for scientists, the true chemists.’”
As a first-generation student, Castillo initially had little guidance choosing her career. This discussion put her on the right track with a chemistry associate’s degree before transferring to UNT with a double major in chemistry and physics. Now she’s focusing on her career to study chemistry education.
As an undergrad, Castillo became overwhelmed with the courseload as she was working and commuting from her childhood home in Bedford. Things piled up and affected her mental health, but giving up was not an option.
In 2016, Castillo met her now-husband Gabriel Madrano (’23 Ph.D.) who helped her take a semester off. She returned stronger than ever – earning great grades and completing her dual degree in 2019.
“I finally learned how to ask for help,” Castillo says. “As a Hispanic female, asking for help used to feel like eating glass and at the end of the day, I still wasn’t feeling accomplished enough.”
Conflicted with her “science identity,” Castillo didn’t know whether to call herself a physicist or a chemist and wanted to learn more about both fields – so she fought to get accepted into UNT’s physics master’s degree program.
Once she finished her master’s degree in physics, Castillo was called back to chemistry — but wanted to focus on education to help those dealing with similar struggles she experienced in school.
To do so, Castillo advocated for herself between departments and got approved to research physics education in 2022 under the special supervision of Dr. Chris Littler and Dr. Molly Atkinson. She has been devoted to studying student experiences and researching how to advance chemistry education ever since.
Imposter syndrome feelings stuck until Castillo presented at a Gordon Conference where she met one of her academic idols – Dr. Paulette Vincent-Ruz of New Mexico State University – who gave her just the confidence she needed.
“She’s very intense, I love her,” Castillo says. “It was the first time I had my science identity confirmed and I do a lot of work in identity research, so it’s kind of interesting.”
The Texas Leadership Research Scholarship will help Castillo take her work to more conventions and conferences, including the Biennial Conference on Chemical Education in Wisconsin at the end of July, as she finishes her final few semesters for her Ph.D.
“I’ve only been doing chem-ed research for two years,” Castillo says. “There’s so much more to learn.”
The Texas Leadership Research Scholars Program, which debuted in Fall 2024, is a Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board research scholarship and leadership opportunity program for high-achieving graduate students with financial need.
UNT was among only nine public universities in the state selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the program, which awards selected doctoral researchers a nearly $18,000 scholarship renewable for up to four years.
“The TLRS program provides access and opportunity to exceptional doctoral scholars to excel in their research, academics and graduate life. The funding removes barriers for our scholars as they expand their career and life experiences to be readied for the workforce. This investment by the state of Texas is highly impactful and life-changing for UNT's doctoral students,” says Brenda Barrio, UNT associate vice president for graduate studies and student research.