national science foundation graduate research fellowship winners 2022

Current Institution refers to the institutional affiliation of the applicant at the time of GRFP application submission.

 2024 Offered Award List

A dozen graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill receive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships

A dozen graduate students at UNC-Chapel Hill have received prestigious awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) for 2022 for their research in STEM-related fields. Several other graduate students received honorable mentions.

The fellowships recognize and support outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s or doctoral degrees. Fellows receive federal funding by way of a three-year stipend, educational support, and opportunities for professional development and international research. The fellowship began in 1952.  

Suzanne Barbour , dean of The Graduate School, said this year’s recipients are emblematic of graduate students’ commitment to the University’s tripartite mission of research, teaching, and service as they pursue top-ranked graduate programs.  

“Carolina’s graduate students are at the forefront of research,” Barbour said. “They’re our next generation of leaders who are changing our world with their commitment to research and discovery.”  

Graduate student recipients of the NSF GRFP

• Maurryce Starks (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Nicholas Zane Randolph (Curriculum in bioinformatics and computational biology; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Tara Di Cassio (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences)
• Maya Powell (Environment, Ecology, and Energy Program; College of Arts and Sciences)
• Stephanie Peak (Earth, Marine, and Environmental Sciences; College of Arts and Sciences)
• Delaney O’Connell ’20 (Department of Biology; College of Arts and Sciences
• Haley Macdonald (Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
• Yarrow Linden ( Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
• Katelyn Kitzinger (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)
• Sarah Anne Howard (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
• Alexis Harvey (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• John Patrick Sunglao Flores (Biological & Biomedical Sciences Program; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Maya Bluitt (Department of Neuroscience; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Alyssa Felix Thayne (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Maria Emily Furukawa,   (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences  
• Alyssa Holden (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy)
• Sarah Mott (Biological and biomedical sciences)
• Michaela Rodriguez (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences)
• Jaydn Sethna (Department of Biology; College of Arts and Sciences)

Graduate student honorable mentions include the following:

• Julia Cardwell (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Guillermo Sebastian Colon (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Margaret Dedloff (Department of Microbiology and Immunology; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Karen Ehrhardt (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Annie Elledge (Department of Geography; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Molly Frauenheim (Environmental Sciences and Engineering; UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health)  
• Lauren Kass (Pharmaceutical sciences; Eshelman School of Pharmacy)  
• Caleb Kozuszek (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• John Migliore (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Esmeralda Navarro (Department of Psychology and Neuroscience; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Eliza Neidhart (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Justin Neu (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Nina Nishiyama (Curriculum in bioinformatics and computational biology; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Cassandra Phillips (Department of cell biology and physiology; UNC School of Medicine)  
• Brandon Pratt (Department of Pharmacology; UNC School of Medicine)  
• David Qiu (Department of Chemistry; College of Arts and Sciences)  
• Anna Shelton-Ormond ’15 (Department of Sociology; College of Arts and Sciences  

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MSE students win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Naomi Pieczulewski and Quynh Sam have been selected as 2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows , and Quinton Wright is an Honorable Mention recipient – prestigious honors from the fellowship program that identifies doctoral students likely to achieve a high level of success in their future academic and professional careers.

The fellowships provide students with a three-year annual stipend, allowance for tuition and fees, and access to opportunities for professional development available to NSF-supported graduate students. The honor also helps students become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching, according to the program’s website. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, a former U.S. Secretary of Energy, and the founder of Google.

Pieczulewski is a member of the Muller Group, which uses the highest resolution electron microscopy in the world to understand the behavior of materials at the atomic scale.

Sam is a member of the Cha Group, which studies novel electronic properties and phase transformations of nanoscale materials for device and energy applications.

Wright is a member of the Donnelly Group, which focuses on the contribution of tissue microstructure and composition to the material and structural behavior of healthy and pathologic connective tissues.

Several alumni of MSE’s undergraduate program also received 2022 fellowships, including Rees Chang ’20, Neethu Pottackal ’20, and Tao Hong ’19. Nick Diaco ’21, who worked with the Ober Group as an engineering physics undergraduate, was also named a fellow.

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26 Columbia Students Awarded 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Twenty-six students and alumni of Columbia’s three undergraduate programs have won graduate research fellowships through the National Science Foundation. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP) represents one of the nation’s most prestigious honors for young engineers, scientists, and social scientists, and this year’s group represents one of the largest cohorts from Columbia.

The NSF-GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited American institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

NSF Fellows are expected to become “knowledge experts” who will contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering and, as the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers.

Each year the NSF typically receives over 13,000 applications and offers approximately 2,000 fellowships. This year, 14 Columbia College affiliates, 1 General Studies affiliate, and 11 Columbia Engineering affiliates have been awarded fellowships and will begin their fellowships this fall, circumstances permitting.

Congratulations to this year’s awardees!

Columbia College Affiliates

Alice Xue, CC’20

General Studies Affiliates

Columbia Engineering Affiliates

To learn more about the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program, visit the URF website or schedule a meeting with a URF advisor!

2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows

Posted on June 21, 2022

Congratulations to our current students and alumni who have received prestigious 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Awards and Honorable Mentions. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP)  recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend and a cost of education allowance to the institution. 

2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships (GRFP) were awarded to graduate students Robert Lavroff (Alexandrova group) and Yessica Nelson (Spokoyny group). (Pictured right)  

2022 Honorable Mentions by NSF, also a significant national academic achievement, were accorded to graduate students Rita Aksenfeld , Luca McDermott Catena (Garg group), Zachary Schuman (Liu group), Lily Taylor (Rodriguez group), Miranda Villanueva (Backus group), Dominick Witkowski (Garg group), Carolyn Wu (Quinlan group). 

Our alumni also received recognition this year! 2022 NSF GRFP’s were awarded to undergraduate alums Emily Dunn ‘22 (Neuhauser group), Daniel Dela Cruz Fuentes (California State University alum, post-baccalaureate researcher in the Rodriguez group) now at the Scripps Research Institute, Garrett Kukier ’22 (Houk group) soon to be graduate student at UC Berkeley or Stanford, Jenna Molas ‘20 (Kaner group) now at Yale University, Alexander Umanzor ‘20 (Spokoyny/Houk groups) now at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. 

 Honorable mentions were accorded to alumni Fadi Alsarhan ‘21 (Spokoyny group) now at the University of California, Berkeley, Daniel Lin ‘20 (Nelson group) now at the University of Southern California, Oscar Molina ‘20 (Courey group) now at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Jeremy Shek ‘20 (Backus group) now at the University of California, San Diego, and Indya Weathers ‘19 (Chanfreau group) now at the University of Chicago. 

  Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, [email protected] .

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Meet TCNJ’s 2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship winners

The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is one of the most competitive sources of support for students in STEM fields. The vast majority of recipients are first- and second-year graduate students, but three TCNJ seniors made the list in this past spring when the NSF announced its 2022 awardees:

Madison Bland

Major: electrical engineering Research interests: robotics Research at TCNJ: As a member of TCNJ’s Collaborative Robotics and Intelligent Systems Laboratory , she worked with NAO humanoid robots alongside electrical and computer engineering professor Seung-yun Kim . The lab’s ultimate goal is competing in RoboCup — a soccer competition for NAO robots. Grad school: Princeton University

Mary McMullan

Major: physics Research interests: astrophysics, plasma physics, and computational physics Research at TCNJ: Working with physics professor Thulsi Wickramasinghe , McMullan researched gravitational waves, specifically studying their dispersion speeds as they traveled through space. Grad school: University of Rochester

Maya Williams

Major: applied mathematics Research interests: mathematical biology and modeling disease spread Research at TCNJ : She worked with Matthew Mizuhara , professor of mathematics and statistics, on independent math biology research. Grad school: Florida State University

The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

All three students have been involved in research projects with faculty mentors at both TCNJ and at host institutions through the NSF’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

“The NSF graduate research fellowship is not only a fantastic award, but it allows me to conduct the research I want to conduct with lots of flexibility [to research what I want],” McMullan says.

Danielle Demateis ’19 , now at Colorado State University, and Gina Errico ’20 , now at Oklahoma State University, both received honorable mentions.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become lifelong leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

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NSF Graduate Research Fellows

Article by Karen B. Roberts Photo illustration by Jeffrey C. Chase June 06, 2022

19 UD students, alumni earn NSF funding for future research

The National Science Foundation has selected 19 University of Delaware students and alumni for its 2022 Graduate Research Fellowship program. An additional eight UD students and one alumnus earned honorable mention.

The oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP is awarded to individuals pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) or STEM education. Highly competitive, the fellowship includes a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees.

NSF Fellows are considered future leaders with the potential to make significant contributions to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. Former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu was an NSF GRFP Fellow. So were Google founder Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt, as well as numerous Nobel Prize winners.

More than 60,000 graduate research fellowships have been awarded since 1952.

At UD, which is one of fewer than 3% of U.S. institutions with a Carnegie classification of very high research activity, the number of undergraduate and graduate students and alumni selected for the prestigious fellowship has grown in recent years.

“As an R01 institution, it’s a tribute to our fundamental strength in both undergraduate and graduate programs to see so many awards recognizing our students,” said Louis Rossi, dean of UD’s Graduate College. “Some of these are undergraduates who will be continuing their studies elsewhere. Others are students who were prepared here or elsewhere and are choosing to pursue their graduate education here at UD."

For UD's Jackson Burns, the fellowship opportunity is exciting for more than one reason. 

“I was thrilled to be offered this fellowship and even more happy when I learned that two of my close friends, Nick (Samulewicz) and Sean (Wirt), had also won,” said Burns, who graduated in May with a degree in chemical engineering and was a member of the Honors College. “The three of us are thrilled to represent Delaware, as we go to MIT this fall.”

Read on to learn about the current and future work planned by Burns, Samulewicz, Wirt and the other UD undergraduate and graduate students and alumni selected as NSF GRFP fellows.

UD’s 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellows

Jackson Burns (Honors College) chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Jackson Burns, a Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholar, has been using machine learning and chemical simulations to create a ‘virtual lab bench’ for identifying ideal catalysts to support chemical reactions. Using high-throughput experimentation hardware, Burns ran hundreds of micro-scale experiments simultaneously using less resources and time to interpret experimental results and predict optimal outcomes. He credits his mentor, Donald Watson, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, for supporting him in this work. This fall at MIT, Burns will use robotics and programming to create an autonomous virtual chemist to further accelerate the pace of discovery as part of the chemical engineering and computation doctoral program.

Sarah Clerjuste, education and human development, UD

Sarah Clerjuste, a University Graduate Scholar, is a second-year doctoral student in the Educational Statistics and Research Methods program in UD’s School of Education. Advised by Christina Barbieri, assistant professor in the School of Education, Clerjuste is using her STEM education expertise to improve how math is taught. Her research focuses on helping individuals struggle less with math through improved mathematical cognition and learning methods. Specifically, she is exploring how effective revisions, combined with feedback, influence a student's learning in mathematics. As an NSF GRFP fellow, she hopes to expand her research beyond undergraduate students to include middle school students. Following her doctoral studies, Clerjuste plans to pursue a STEM education career in academia or industry.

Kaitlyn Downer, mechanical engineering, UD

Kaitlyn Downer, who graduated in May with a degree in mechanical engineering, first became passionate about biomechanics research as a volunteer with the Perry Initiative, a nonprofit outreach program designed to engage high-school aged females in engineering and orthopedic surgery. There, she learned how mechanical engineering principles are used to study the human body. She subsequently spent three years modifying an adaptive treadmill for post-stroke gait rehabilitation in UD’s Neuromuscular Biomechanics Lab under Jill Higginson, mechanical engineering professor. As a doctoral student at the University of Florida this fall, Downer will conduct research aimed at understanding how people control balance, which could provide greater insight into why individuals may have higher fall or injury risk.

Amanda “Mandy” Forti, chemical engineering, UD

Amanda “Mandy” Forti is a second-year chemical engineering doctoral student in Assistant Professor Aditya Kunjapur’s synthetic biology lab. Her research investigates methods for controlling the growth of engineered microbes. Forti is exploring how a synthetic microbe engineered to be dependent on an amino acid not typically found in nature will interact with its neighbors when grown in a microbial community. She hopes to determine the extent of the engineered microbe’s biocontainment when in contact with other microbes in a community, to better understand how they will behave outside of a laboratory environment. It’s an emerging field with wide-ranging application from pharmaceuticals to food to agriculture. 

Spencer Grissom, chemical and biomolecular engineering, UD

Spencer Grissom, a second-year engineering doctoral student is working with chemical and biomolecular engineer Mark Blenner to develop populations of cells that can be optimized to produce biopharmaceuticals. The work involves identifying genetic biomarkers that improve cell performance during production and rewiring the epigenetic landscape to have better control of gene expression. The goal is to reduce the cost and time burden associated with developing new biopharmaceutical-like antibodies for treating cancer or for producing vaccines to protect against certain illnesses. Following graduate school, Grissom hopes to become a research scientist in biopharmaceutical process design and development.

Wendy Huerta, psychological and brain sciences, UD

Wendy Huerta, a doctoral student in psychological and brain sciences, is working to understand when and why adults engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as self- and other-directed harm. Her research explores how situations that induce high levels of arousal (i.e., thrilling or anger-inducing events) can impair an individual’s ability to suppress impulsivity. Advised by Naomi Sadeh, assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences, Huerta is especially interested in how specific contexts, such as inducing positive or negative moods, influence neural markers of impulse control and whether these neural markers can be used to predict aggressive behavior. Following graduate school, she hopes to continue this work as a future faculty member and researcher.

Collin James Meese, civil engineering, UD

Collin Meese, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, is working to improve machine learning models for autonomous vehicles and intelligent transportation systems, such as ride-sharing services, under the advisement of Mark Nejad, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. The goal is to reduce costs and increase societal access to transportation. Meese recently led an interdisciplinary computer science and civil engineering research project where students and faculty developed a real-time learning system for predicting traffic flow. He will present the team’s results at the upcoming CCGrid 2022 conference in Italy. Following doctoral studies, Meese hopes to educate next generation transportation engineers in an academic research faculty position. Outside of research, he enjoys video games, hiking, cooking and disc golf.

Annie Porter, mechanical engineering, UD

Mechanical engineering doctoral student Annie Porter is studying the effect of joint inflammation on cartilage after traumatic injury, such as ACL rupture, under the advisement of X. Lucas Lu, associate professor of mechanical engineering. She is particularly interested in how to best treat the injury to prevent the future development of osteoarthritis. In the future, Porter wants to explore how microgravity in space affects the body’s ability to maintain healthy cartilage, as a proxy to better understand and treat osteoarthritis on Earth. She has complementary interests in stem education and science communication. Porter expressed gratitude to Jill Higginson and the College of Engineering Graduate Affairs office for supporting her to create a successful GRFP application.

Nicholas Samulewicz (Honors College), chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nicholas Samulewicz, who graduated in May with a degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering, conducted sustainable catalysis research for turning agricultural food waste into high-value chemicals for catalysts, natural food preservatives, cosmetics and lubricants, as part of the Vlachos group. He currently works at DuPont’s Experimental Station Laboratory purifying short DNA/RNA molecules for use as gene therapeutics. As president of UD’s ChemE Cube team, which focuses on building modular in-home water purification systems for regions without potable water, Samulewicz led the team to win the 2021 national championship at the AIChE conference. This fall at MIT, Samulewicz will study chemical engineering approaches to innovative renewable energy systems and hopes someday to launch a startup company.

Eric Sterin, biomedical engineering, UD

Eric Sterin, a doctoral student studying biomedical engineering, is exploring how the body’s immune system and other physiological responses can prevent nanocarrier systems from delivering medicines to specific areas of the body. Under the advisement of Emily Day, associate professor of biomedical engineering, Sterin is investigating the body’s biological response in order to devise strategies that reduce the immune system’s ability to eliminate the nanocarriers before they can deliver their therapeutic cargo. For example, gene editing techniques may help minimize the immune system’s ability to recognize the nanoparticles, allowing them to pass undetected. Following graduate school, Sterin hopes to continue pursuing both basic and translational research related to the body’s response to biomaterials at a nonprofit organization dedicated to medical advancement.

Sejal Suri, (Honors College), biomedical engineering, UD

While at UD, Sejal Suri, who graduated in May with a degree in biomedical engineering, explored nanoparticle systems for treating triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive form of breast cancer with limited treatment options. As part of the Emily Day lab, Suri worked to regulate relevant gene expression and suppress the tumor-causing behavior of TNBC cells, helping to design a nanoparticle platform to deliver specialized antibodies and therapeutics to terminate tumor progression. Suri was a member of the Honors Program and a Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholar. As a doctoral student at the University of California, San Diego, this fall, she will explore novel therapeutic solutions to address unmet clinical needs in nanomedicine, drug delivery and regenerative medicine.

Sean Wirt (Honors College), chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sean Wirt, who graduated in May with a degree in chemical engineering, has been conducting synthetic biology research with chemical and biomolecular engineer Aditya Kunjapur. Specifically, he has worked with graduate student mentors Neil Butler and Michaela Jones to uncover enzymes that synthesize non-standard amino acids, which can equip cells to produce new therapeutics and responsive materials. As a doctoral student in chemical engineering at MIT this fall, Wirt hopes to expand the toolkit of biotechnology development and bring about the biomanufacturing of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Ultimately, he hopes to develop innovative biotechnologies for sustainable chemical manufacturing in an R&D setting.

The following UD alumni also will continue their research through the fellowship:

Alec Freeland Greco Agee, Honors graduate and a Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholar, chemical engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Adam Eugene Balvanz, inorganic materials chemistry, Northwestern University

Nicolette Anna Bugher, Honors graduate, environmental engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Joshua Hoke Davis, Honors graduate and a Eugene du Pont Memorial Distinguished Scholar, computationally intensive research, University of Maryland

Maxwell Grozovsky, Honors graduate, economics

Rachel Roday, Honors graduate, marine biology, University of Texas at Austin

Emma Spillman, neurosciences, University of California, San Diego

An additional nine undergraduate or graduate students and alumni received honorable mentions:

Current institution is UD:

Amanda Delgado, a University Graduate Scholar, STEM education and learning research

Delaney Doran, Honors graduate, civil engineering

Richa Gautam, a Unidel Distinguished Graduate Scholar, social psychology

Jason Geiger, environmental engineering

Ashlyn Kapinski, Honors graduate, biomedical engineering

Amanda Sensi, chemical synthesis

Anna Stumps, cognitive neuroscience

Erin Papke, marine biology, University of North Carolina at Wilmington

Kristen Nicole Tauber, Honors graduate, economics

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2022 nsf-grfp awardees and honorable mentions.

Congratulations to the various 2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program ( NSF-GRFP ) awardees and honorable mentions from the Department of Biology!  The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. 

Awarded for 2022:

• Alyssa Sargent – Rico-Guevara Lab (grad student)
• Antonio Chaparro –Steinbrenner Lab (lab technician, soon to be graduate student)
• Anthony Garcia –Steinbrenner Lab (lab technician, soon to be graduate student)

Honorable Mentions for 2022:

• Yasmeen Erritouni – Leache Lab (grad student)
• Erik Johansson – Abrahms Lab (grad student)
• Hannah McConnell – Di Stilio Lab (grad student)
• Christine Nolan – Imaizumi Lab (grad student)
• Amy Platenkamp – Jay Parrish Lab (grad student)
• Julia Smith – Buckley Lab (grad student)
• Grace Leuchtenberger - Carrington Lab (incoming grad student)
• Rosey Elting - Rico-Guevara Lab (lab manager)
• Annie Colgan - Brosi Lab (incoming grad student)
• Annie Schiffer - Brosi Lab (lab manager)

Congratulations, all!

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• 2022 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program Awardees provide an inspiring glimpse into Life Sciences’ graduate student research

April 4, 2022

This year, fourteen stellar graduate students in Life Sciences have been selected for the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award – an award that comes with an annual stipend, plus tuition support for three years.

The NSF GRFP award “recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students… who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) or STEM education.”

Here, some of our GRFP fellows provide insight into their research and why they are pursuing a Ph.D. in the life sciences.

Congratulations to all of Life Sciences’ graduate student GRFP awardees this year!

• Austin Betancourt   Marine Biology (Advisor: Paul Barber)
• Robin B. Blades    Neuropsychology (Advisor: Julienne Bower)
• Elaine Huang   Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Advisor: Grace Xiao)
• Elena Cannova    Psychology – Clinical (Advisor: Steve Lee)
• Belinda Chen     Clinical Psychology – Social Psychology (Advisor: Anna Lau)
• Pamala Dayley    Clinical Psychology – Social Psychology (Advisor: Kerri Johnson)
• Corinna Franco   Psychology – Cognitive Neuroscience (Advisor: Barbara Knowlton)
• Christina Huber    Psychology – Social/Affective Neuroscience (Advisor: Matthew Lieberman)
• Leezet Matos   Psychology – Social Psychology (Advisor: Matthew Lieberman)
• Xochitl Ortiz Ross   Ecology (Advisor: Daniel Blumstein)
• Jordan Parker    Psychology – Social Psychology (Advisor: Janet Tomiyama)
• Kaia Sargent    Psychology – Cognitive Neuroscience (Advisor: Cindy Yee-Bradbury)
• Allison Schiffman   Systems and Molecular Biology  (Advisor: Alexander Hoffman)
• Xochitl Arlene Smola   Psychology – Developmental Psychology (Advisor: Andrew Fuligni)

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• 2020 UCLA Life Sciences Excellence Awards
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• 2022 UCLA Life Sciences’ Mautner Graduate Awardees
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All proposals must be submitted in accordance with the requirements specified in this funding opportunity and in the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG) that is in effect for the relevant due date to which the proposal is being submitted. It is the responsibility of the proposer to ensure that the proposal meets these requirements. Submitting a proposal prior to a specified deadline does not negate this requirement.

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or in STEM education. The GRFP provides three years of support over a five-year fellowship period for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant research achievements in STEM or STEM education.  NSF actively encourages submission of applications from the full spectrum of diverse talent in STEM.

NSF GRFP was established to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM.  Thus, NSF especially encourages applications from undergraduate seniors and Bachelor's degree-holders interested in pursuing research-based graduate study in STEM.  First- and second-year graduate students in eligible STEM fields and degree programs are also encouraged to apply.

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Four MAE students awarded NSF Research Fellowship

Four current and former MAE students have been awarded the 2022 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP).

According to the NSF Website, the fellowship recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

Each year, upward of 12,000 students apply, and only 2,000 are offered the fellowship. From MAE, four outstanding students were awarded the fellowship this year: 

Stephanie Eberly

Stephanie completed her undergraduate degree at MAE in 2020, graduating valedictorian as the top student university-wide out of nearly 6,000 graduates. During her undergraduate studies, Stephanie worked as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at NC State, Cornell University and Ohio State University. 

After graduating from NC State, Stephanie moved on to University of California, Berkeley, where she is a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering with a concentration in biomechanics and a minor in neuroscience, and works as a graduate research assistant. 

Along with her new status as an NSF Fellow, Stephanie is also an NIH T32 Fellow, a Berkeley Fellow, and an H2H8 Fellow. She is also a Biology and Biotechnology of Cell and Gene Therapy Training Grant Recipient and a STEM*FYI Professional Development Grant Recipient. 

Lindsey Jacobson

Lindsey is currently a graduating senior at North Carolina State University studying aerospace engineering with a minor in industrial engineering. She is interested in engineering design methodology, design under uncertainty, system evolution and redesign, human aspects of design and STEM outreach. She is an undergraduate research assistant in the System Design Optimization Lab, as well as a University Honors and Scholars Program Ambassador at NC State. She serves as the Vice President of the NC Alpha Chapter of Tau Beta Pi and works as the Payload Integration Lead with MAE’s High-Powered Rocketry Team. Additionally, Lindsey was recognized as a 2021 USRA Distinguished Undergraduate and has also been nominated for a 2022 Engineering Senior Award in the category of Leadership, one of the highest forms of recognition for a senior in the College of Engineering at NC State.

Lindsey previously had two internships at NASA Headquarters working on systems engineering and risk management for the James Webb Space Telescope Program, and next year, she will return to NC State as a PhD student in aerospace engineering. 

Rebecca Hart

Rebecca is a graduating senior at MAE and she works as an undergraduate student researcher under Dr. Matthew Bryant at the Intelligent Structures and System Research Lab, where she has worked for more than two years. 

She is also a member of MAE’s Baja SAE team, which designs, manufactures and builds a Baja car from scratch every year. She is also a member of the NC State University Scholars Program. Additionally, she has had two internships with the Kimberly-Clark Mechanical Engineering Co-op.

Rebecca also works as a summer research intern in 2021 at the University of Florida under Dr. Warren Dixon, where she will return next year as a PhD student in mechanical engineering. 

Ryan DeBoskey

Ryan has been doing undergraduate research in aerospace engineering at NC State under Dr. Venkat Narayanaswamy since his sophomore year. He started working with the US. Naval Research Laboratory last summer and has been part-time remote throughout this semester. Through them he has worked on collaborative research projects with NC State. Ryan attributes his success to MAE’s Dr. Narayanaswamy and Dr. David Kessler from the US. Naval Research Laboratory for their tremendous influence on his work. 

Ryan will return to NC State next year as a PhD student, where he will continue to work under Dr. Narayanaswamy to construct a fully-reacting solid-fuel ramjet engine and conduct laser diagnostics and performance tests. After he graduates, Ryan hopes to continue research in aerospace propulsion and eventually teach someday. 

He was also awarded the prestigious DoD National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) fellowship, and since he can only accept one fellowship, he made the difficult decision to accept the NDSEG fellowship in place of the NSF-GRFP. 

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UCLA NSF GRFP Winners

Congratulations to the 2023 NSF GRFP Awardees!  Our fellows represent  an array of disciplines pertaining to applied, engineering, life, physical sciences, social sciences, and STEM education .

2023 Awardees

• Alexander Maertens, Chemistry
• Alyssa Tomkinson, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Amber Hopkins, Psychology
• Anna Wolz, Physics and Astronomy
• Asari Prado, Physics and Astronomy
• Barath Palanisamy, Bioengineering
• Blake Miranda, Neuroscience
• Claire E. Williams, Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Cody Fan, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Gabriel Rojas Bowe, Neurobiology
• Georgia Scherer, Chemistry & Biochemistry
• Gil Moreu, Psychology
• Hannah Stouter, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Harris Hardiman-Mostow, Mathematics
• Helen Lin, Chemistry and Biochemistry
• J Richard Tyrus Korecki, Psychology
• Jasmine Amerasekera, Genetics and Genomics GPB Home Area Department of Human Genetics
• Jasmine Amerasekera, Human Genetics; Genetics and Genomics Home Area of the Graduate Programs in Bioscience
• Jazmyn Lu, Materials Science and Engineering
• Jee Won Kang, Psychology
• John Amiel Flores, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Julia Bigwood, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Kaija Gahm, EEB
• Karina Keus, NSIDP
• Keionna Newton, NSIDP
• Kelsey Reckling, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (PhD)
• Madeleine Pacheco, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
• Mannix Burns, CDB
• Marcelo Almora Rios, School of Education and Information Studies
• Megha Nagaswami, Psychology
• Michelle Chang, Psychology
• Qingyang Wang, Statistics
• Ryan Arbon, Mathematics
• Sahil Hegde, Physics and Astronomy
• Sienna Ruiz, Anthropology
• Soham Ray, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• Sophie Klitgaard, Anthropology
• Zoë Haggard, Physics and Astronomy

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Clemson News

Four Clemson students awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Four Clemson University students have been awarded 2022  National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship s, and one has received Honorable Mention.

The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious programs, dedicated to ensuring the vitality and diversity of the country’s science and engineering leaders by recognizing and supporting outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. Since the GRFP’s beginnings in 1952, 42 recipients have gone on to become Nobel laureates, and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences. These Clemson students were among 2,000 selected from more than 12,000 applicants nationwide.

Clemson’s commitment to research is part of our mission as a R1 research institution, and our students’ selection for prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowships bears witness to that commitment. We are proud of their accomplishments and look forward to their achievements in the future. Robert H. Jones, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship provides three years of support for graduate education, including a $34,000 annual stipend, a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance and access to a wide range of professional development opportunities.

Three of the GRFP recipients represent the  College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences , and one represents the  College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences .

GRFP Recipients

Venkata “anish” chaluvadi.

Department of Materials Science and Engineering College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences

Anish Chaluvadi is a 2021 Clemson University Honors College graduate from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering who is currently pursuing a MRes degree at the University of Cambridge. While at Clemson, the Simpsonville, South Carolina, native pursued multiple research opportunities beginning with EUREKA!, the Honors College’s early-start program. After joining the collaborative efforts of Thompson Mefford, associate professor of material science and engineering and Rachel Getman, Murdock Family Endowed Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Chaluvadi realized his interest lay in the field of computational materials science which uses materials modeling, machine learning and artificial intelligence to guide experimental research.

His continued collaborations with Mefford and Getman further informed his belief in the value of integrating computational and experimental work in developing advanced materials.

At Clemson, Chaluvadi was a member of the debate team, president of the Indian Cultural Association, and was instrumental in founding the Tigers for Green Innovation Program. He was awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Marcus L. Urann Fellowship, the Norris Medal for top overall graduating senior and Clemson University’s first Gates-Cambridge Scholarship. Chaluvadi was also active in the Office of Sustainability and as a STEM mentor. He plans to pursue a doctorate in materials science, specializing in computational modeling and machine learning.

Nicholas Deas

School of Computing College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences

Nicholas Deas is a senior in the Honors College majoring in computer science. The National Scholar from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, began his research at Clemson in an interdisciplinary team under the direction of political science professor Jeffrey Fine and Hudson Smith, research associate at the Watt Family Innovation Center. The team used custom natural language models and data labels to improve machine learning as they examined Congressional tweets to determine how they spread and to detect political attacks.

For a study with Robin Kowalski, professor of psychology in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences, Deas led a project that utilized machine learning to investigate the relationship between mattering and suicidality in mental health-related online forums.

He followed up this research by training machine learning models to detect anti-mattering, loneliness and other variables in online peer-support community posts in an effort to inform interventions and prevention measures for those struggling with suicide-ideation.

At Clemson, Deas helped found the Youth Scholars Program with his National Scholars cohort and won academic recognition in the Department of Psychology and the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences. He plans to attend Columbia University to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science, focusing on natural language processing applied to the social sciences.

Miranda Grice

Glenn Department of Civil Engineering College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences

Miranda Grice, a graduate student in civil engineering from Burlington, Wisconsin, has focused her academic career on finding solutions to reducing the waste created by the demolishing and rebuilding of single-purpose buildings. Grice’s research has combined her passions for sustainability, environmental consciousness and construction, in the lab of Brandon Ross, Cottingham Associate Professor of Civil Engineering. There she is exploring the option value of adaptable building practices, in order to determine if investing in adaptable features for buildings makes economic sense, both now and in the future.

Grice’s continuing work with Habitat for Humanity strengthened her understanding of the impact construction has in sustaining communities and solidified her goals of creating sustainable construction methods to address the issues of affordable housing, housing and material shortages, aging buildings, construction waste and depleted natural resources.

She has also been a strong advocate for women in STEM fields and plans to continue her role as a mentor for women in construction and first-generation college students.

Grice is the recipient of the Dean’s Graduate Fellowship. She plans to continue her Ph.D. in civil engineering at Clemson University.

Courtney Tharp

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences

Courtney Tharp, senior horticulture major from Chapin, South Carolina, plans to pursue a Ph.D. in the Penn State Graduate School of Plant Biology program. Her research will focus on plant-microbe interactions in the rhizosphere to see how those associations are related to plant stress tolerances. She then plans to develop programs that will help these areas recover by using non-fossil fuel dependent, microbial solutions that create beneficial soil organism communities for long-term agricultural viability.

Her overarching goal is to help tackle the global issues of food insecurity and environmental degradation.

During her time at Clemson, Tharp worked as an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Vidya Suseela, assistant professor of soil ecology, where she developed a deep interest in the ability of ecological intensification to restore soil health, biodiversity and nutrient retention to impact sustainable agriculture worldwide.

Tharp was honored with the Undergraduate Research Initiative award from the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. She served on the Dean’s Student Advisory Board and as an intern at the Land Institute, a research organization in Kansas that focuses on perennial grains and sustainable agriculture.

Honorable Mention

Katherine summers.

Department of Mechanical Engineering College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences

Katherine Summers is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Greenville, South Carolina. Her research in bioengineering has focused on medical devices, specifically in the design and implementation of muscle wire into prosthetic ankles.

Clemson Alumni who won the 2022 NSF GRF

• Andrew Bell, computer science, now studying at New York University
• Robert Falconer, biomedical engineering, now studying at the University of Utah
• Hayden Pagendarm, biomedical engineering, now studying at Vanderbilt University
• Erin Shappell, bioengineering, now studying at Georgia Tech
• Gabriella Wheeler-Fox, neuroscience, now studying at the University of Chicago

About the National Science Foundation

Since 1952, the National Science Foundation has funded over 60,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, former U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Students interested in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship or other nationally competitive programs should contact the Office of Major Fellowships at 864-656-9704 or  [email protected] . 

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Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Individuals can access the application module here

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and STEM education fields within NSF’s mission . The GRFP provides up to three years of support for the graduate education of individuals who have demonstrated their potential for significant achievements in science and engineering research. The GRFP supports over 100 subfields.

The GRFP encourages applications from underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans, in order to broaden and diversify those participating in science and engineering.

NSF Awards Graduate Research Fellowships and Honors to Natural Sciences Students

Dozens of College of Natural Science students received recognition through the National Science Foundation program.

The National Science Foundation recently announced Graduate Research Fellowships (NSF GRFP) and honorable mentions for dozens of College of Natural Sciences graduate students and graduating undergraduates at The University of Texas at Austin. 

The NSF GRFP is a prestigious and competitive fellowship that supports outstanding graduate research across the country. Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large. 

Fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 as well as a cost-of-education allowance of $16,000 to conduct research at any accredited U.S. graduate school. 

This spring, six Texas Science undergraduates and nine graduate students learned they had won fellowships. Additionally, two undergraduate students and 12 graduate students were awarded honorable mentions. Below are the recipients, their fields of study and their research focuses.

2024 Graduate Research Fellowship Recipients 

• Luisa Marie Velasco, Mathematics graduate student — Analysis
• Audrick Moses Pyronneau, Mathematics graduate student — Topology
• Shankar Padmanabhan, Mathematics undergraduate — Natural Language Processing
• Leo Orshansky, Computer Science undergraduate student — Unconventional Computing, Quantum Computing
• Sara Nixon, Chemistry graduate student — Chemistry of Life Processes
• Lacie Larschan Levy, Biology undergraduate student — Geosciences, Chemical Oceanography
• Alexandra Lee, Physics graduate student — Condensed Matter Physics
• Mathea Kurtz-Shaw, Marine Science graduate student — Geosciences, Arctic-Antarctic
• Stephane Hatgis-Kessell, Computer Science undergraduate student — Artificial Intelligence
• Jennie Elizabeth DeVore, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior graduate student — Animal Behavior 
• Hailey A. Currie, Physics undergraduate student — Physics of Living Systems
• Jason R. Boynewicz, Physics graduate student — Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics
• Duaa N. Ansari, Chemistry undergraduate student — Chemistry of Life Processes
• Scott A. Wicker - Chemistry graduate student — Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanism
• Hollis B. Akins, Astronomy graduate student — Astronomy and Astrophysics

2024 Honorable Mentions 

• Alexandra Boville, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior graduate student — Evolutionary Biology
• Tynan Gardner, Cell and Molecular Biology graduate student — Systems and Molecular Biology
• Ravi K. Koka, Physics undergraduate student — Nuclear Physics
• Zachary Lee, Mathematics graduate student — Mathematical Sciences
• Crystal B. Li, Human Development and Family Sciences graduate student — Human Development and Family Sciences
• Connor A. Painter, Astronomy graduate student — Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Livia Raulinaitis, Ecology, Evolution and Behavior graduate student — Ecology
• Abhishek Shivkumar, Mathematics graduate student — Topology
• Michael H. Updike, Physics undergraduate student — Theoretical Physics
• Arthur King Zhang, Computer Science graduate student — Robotics
• Elijah S. Garcia, Chemistry graduate student — Chemistry of Life Processes
• Jason Ho, Computer Sciences graduate student — Computer Architecture 
• Jacob L. Block, Computer Sciences graduate student — Machine Learning
• Tamara M. Rivera, Marine Science graduate student — Marine Biology

Adapted from a post by the Graduate School .

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Celebrating the 2024 College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Honored Graduates

May 3, 2024 • by Esther Robards-Forbes

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National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP)

The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) awards three-year fellowships for graduate study in mathematical, physical, biological, engineering and behavioral and social sciences, including the history of science. There are awards for women in engineering, awards for women in computer information science and graduate fellowships. This fellowship carries a stipend of $34,000 per year plus tuition waivers and fees for three years. Applications are available online and part one of the application is due in early October.

Candidates must have research experience. All NSF GRFP applications are evaluated using NSF’s two merit review criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts.  In order to present a competitive application, you must address both merit review criteria thoroughly.  The Personal, Relevant Background and Future Goals Statement and the Graduate Research Statement should both reflect these criteria.

Various dates based on discipline throughout October each year. Consult the program solicitation on the NSF website .

Eligibility Requirements

Applicants must:.

• Be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident.
• Be a graduating senior if an undergraduate student, or in their first or second year of study if a graduate student (Please note: graduate students can only apply once). 
• Intend to pursue a research-based master’s or PhD program in a GRFP-supported field.
• Be enrolled in an eligible program at an accredited United States graduate institution, with a U.S. campus, by fall following selection.

How to Apply

Apply using the Research.gov portal .

Additional Resources

• Alex Lang's Website
• The Office of Fellowships and Scholarships hosts a four-session program each spring and summer to prepare students to apply to the NSF GRFP. For more information, visit our Workshops page or email [email protected] .

Past Award Recipients and Honorees

11 Knights Earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Recognitions for 2024

The U.S. National Science Foundation Fellowship helps students continue research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions.

By Ryan Randall | May 23, 2024

Five Knights have earned the most prestigious STEM research fellowship in the United States. Another six have earned honorable mentions for the award.

Five UCF alums have received U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF), which supports outstanding graduate students in STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support with an annual stipend of $37,000 and a cost of education allowance of $16,000 to the institution. Each award is valued up to $159,000.

“This is a campuswide achievement that could not be possible without the support of faculty like [Associate Professor of Writing and Rhetoric] Laurie Pinkert, and other academic support offices such as Honors Research and Academic Advancement Programs,” says Morgan Bauer, director of the Office of Prestigious Awards in UCF’s Burnett Honors College.

The Knights who are named fellows are:

Laurie Agosto ’19 Applied sciences alum with a biology minor College of Undergraduate Studies College of Sciences

Saoulkie Bertin ’23 Interdisciplinary studies alum with a medical anthropology minor and anthropology of global health certificate Burnett Honors College College of Undergraduate Studies College of Sciences

Stephen Staklinski ’20 Biomedical sciences alum Burnett Honors College College of Medicine

Andres Torres ’08 Aerospace engineering alum College of Engineering and Computer Science

Stephanie Washburn ’24 Psychology alum with a statistics minor Burnett Honors College College of Sciences

Those who received honorable mentions are:

Rachel Cooper Psychology doctoral student College of Sciences

Michael Kwara ’22 Mechanical engin eering alum; mechanical engineering master’s student Burnett Honors College College of Engineering and Computer Science

Andrea Mullin Psychology student Burnett Honors College College of Sciences

Fahad Nabid ’23 Aerospace engineering alum Burnett Honors College College of Engineering and Computer Science

Sachin Shah ’22 Computer science alum Burnett Honors College College of Engineering and Computer Science

Nyle Siddiqui Computer science doctoral student College of Engineering and Computer Science

For some graduates, such as Bertin and Washburn, the journey to the fellowship was assisted through their involvement with the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, a U.S. Department of Education program that aims to increase the attainment of doctoral degrees by students from underrepresented segments of society.

Through the McNair Scholars Program, Bertin conducted summer research at John Hopkins University and participated in a global health internship in Puerto Rico while she earned a degree in interdisciplinary studies at UCF.

In 2021, Bertin led a point-of-sale task force in promoting a healthier and tobacco-free county through a collaboration between UCF and the Florida Department of Health (FDOH) in Orange County. For her work, she received the FDOH Health Equity Hero Award, which recognizes public health individuals in the community. The work also led to a thesis in 2023 examining the culture of local activist groups in Central Florida and their influence nicotine-related policy change, using data collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews with activist group members, key actors, and nicotine users in Volusia County and Orange counties.

As an incoming global and sociocultural sciences doctoral student at with Florida International University, she will further her research interests at the intersection of climate change and the intricate interplay of government and industry policies concerning food, tobacco/nicotine, and their health implications.

“I like community-engaged research, so [I] definitely [have done] a lot of volunteering in the community [and] I know that can help inform my research in the long term,” Bertin says.

While at UCF, Washburn, a psychology major with a specialization in neuroscience, mainly investigated identity research, which examines how one’s characteristics can ultimately shape resiliency and adaptation in the face of trauma. In particular, her work explored identity’s impact on executive functions, which are dominated by the prefrontal cortex and consist of planning and time organization.

Her research led her to studying at MIT, as well as a TEDx talk, titled The Kaleideoscope of You . As part of the GRF, she has been accepted to the University of Florida, where she’ll be a doctoral candidate in psychology and will focus on furthering her research on Alzheimer’s disease.

“As populations get older, we’re striving for keeping them independent and we don’t really know how. That drove me more toward the aging side of things,” Washburn says. “My grandmother also passed away with Alzheimer’s disease, so there’s a personal motivation as well, in addition to the fascination with neuroscience.”

The McNair Scholars Program not only provided students like Bertin and Washburn with research opportunities, but also support and guidance to apply for the NSF fellowship, ultimately taking their studies even further.

“For me, I needed something outside to push me and empower me to apply, and that was my mentor, [Associate Professor of Anthropology] Shana Harris,” Bertin says. “She and the director of the McNair program, [Michael Aldarondo-Jeffries], told me ‘I think you’d be a good fit.’ Now, if there’s an opportunity and I don’t think I fit, I shrug it off and apply because the worst thing they can say is ‘no.’ Not applying is an automatic no.”

Those interested in the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program and other opportunities, please reach out to the Office of Prestigious Awards at [email protected] .

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Pegasus magazine.

For a decade, UCF-based nonprofit Limbitless Solutions has transformed kids’ lives through bionic limbs. 

VINSE News & Events

Five VINSE/IMS students awarded prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowships and Honorable Mention

Posted by zhay112 on Wednesday, May 22, 2024 in News .

Three engineering graduate students in the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering/Interdisciplinary Materials Science program are 2024 recipients of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

The NSF  Graduate Research Fellowship Program  supports students who are pursuing full-time, research-based graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering or math. Recipients receive financial support for their education and an annual stipend to support their research and career endeavors.

The three engineering graduate student winners are:

• Thiago Arnaud, (incoming) Interdisciplinary Materials Science, 2022 VINSE REU
• Soren Smail, Interdisciplinary Materials Science
• Harrison Walker, Interdisciplinary Materials Science

Each of those fellowships provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000 along with a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, as well as access to opportunities for professional development available to NSF-supported graduates students. It is one of the most prestigious awards for graduate students, with about 16% of applicants awarded each year.

The NSF accords Honorable Mention to meritorious applicants who do not receive Fellowship offers. This is considered a significant national academic achievement.

The Honorable Mention is given to:

• Owen Meilander: Interdisciplinary Materials Science
• Matthew Vasuta: Interdisciplinary Materials Science

Begun in 1952, this fellowship program is the oldest and most prestigious of its kind; 42 recipients have gone on to become Nobel laureates, and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tags: Harrison Walker , Interdisciplinary Materials Science , Matthew Vasuta , Owen Meilander , Soren Smail , Thiago Arnaud

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Ten Vanderbilt engineering students awarded prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Brenda Ellis

May 16, 2024, 3:30 PM

Seven engineering graduate students and three undergraduates in the Vanderbilt School of Engineering are 2024 recipients of the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

“These fellowships are extremely competitive, so being selected as an NSF Graduate Fellow is a tremendous recognition of our outstanding students and our faculty mentors. In addition to these students who are already at Vanderbilt, the graduate student cohort that is matriculating this fall will include several additional NSF recipients,” said E. Duco Jansen, senior associate dean for Graduate Education. The School of Engineering currently has over 45 NSF GRF awardees.

The seven current engineering graduate student winners are:

• Emily Berestesky, Biomedical Engineering
• Austin Coursey, Computer Science
• Skyler Hornback, Chemical Engineering
• William Richardson, Computer Science
• Soren Smail, Interdisciplinary Materials Science
• Jacob Schulman, Biomedical Engineering
• Harrison Walker, Interdisciplinary Materials Science

The three engineering undergraduate winners are:

• Abigail Eisenklam, Computer Science/Mathematics
• Alexander Oh, Electrical Engineering/Computer Science
• Schyler Rowland, Biomedical Engineering

Each of those fellowships provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000 along with a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, as well as access to opportunities for professional development available to NSF-supported graduates students. It is one of the most prestigious awards for graduate students, with about 16% of applicants awarded each year.

Begun in 1952, this fellowship program is the oldest and most prestigious of its kind; 42 recipients have gone on to become Nobel laureates, and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences.

Contact: [email protected]

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• Biomedical Engineering
• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Computer Science
• Electrical and Computer Engineering

Fellows | Jefferson Science Fellowships

• For Applicants

Visit the Fellows Directory to learn more about the former and current Jefferson Science Fellows, and to read about each Fellow's experience at the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Agency for International Development, including which bureaus and offices Fellows worked in, what type of projects Fellows led or joined, and more.

2024 Jefferson Science Fellows

The 2024-2025 class of Jefferson Science Fellows is the 21st class of Fellows selected since the program was established in 2003 as an initiative of the Office of the Science and Technology Adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State. The Jefferson Science Fellows Program is designed to further build capacity for science, technology, and engineering expertise within the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

2024 Fellow

Ali Andalibi

George Mason University

Dr. Ali Andalibi is Professor and Senior Associate Dean in the College of Science at George Mason University. He is also the director of the Enlisted to Medical Degree Preparatory Program (EMDP2). Prior to his current position, he was the Interim Dean of the College and before that he served as the Associate Dean for Research. Previously, Dr. Andalibi held the position of Vice President for Research and Chief Scientific Officer at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and Associate Vice President of Research at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Andalibi has also served as the head of the Therapeutics and Diagnostics Section in the National Cancer Institute’s SBIR Development Center, as well as Program Director in charge of the medical biotechnology SBIR/STTR grant portfolio at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnerships. Dr. Andalibi received his PhD from the UCLA Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. Subsequently, he was involved in several early stage biotechnology companies. He then joined the House Ear Institute (HEI) as the Director of New Technology and Project Development and held a joint appointment in the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Southern California, School of Medicine.

Claudia Avellaneda

Indiana University

Born in Colombia, Dr. Claudia N. Avellaneda specializes in governance and public management in developing countries, with an emphasis on local governments. She joined the IU O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 2013, after serving as assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and graduate coordinator of Latin American Studies at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. 

Her main research interests are decentralization, public policy, innovation, governance, and public management, with a regional focus on Latin America. Specifically, Professor Avellaneda investigates determinants of government performance in Latin American municipalities by focusing on the role of the local chief executive — the mayor.   In her field research, Professor Avellaneda conducts personal interviews and experimental analyses with Latin American mayors. She explores the impact of mayors' education, experience, networking, and political support on social service delivery, public finances, tax collection, and decision-making. She has extended this line of research to Brazilian, Honduran, Colombian, Chilean, Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, Mexican, Peruvian, and Salvadorian municipalities.

Professor Avellaneda serves as editor of Local Government Studies.  She is also the international editor for the Journal of Behavioral Public Administration and associate editor for the The Journal of Policy Studies. She serves, or has served, on the editorial boards of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, Public Management Review, Public Administration, Urban Affairs Review , Global Public Policy and Governance , Fudan Public Administration Review , Public Service Review (Revista do Serviço Público ), International Journal of Public Administration , and the Brazilian Journal of Public Administration (RAP). She is an elected member of the 2017-21 Public Management Research Association Governing Board, was selected as the 2019-20 president of the Midwest Public Administration Caucus, and is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.  

David Prevatt

University of Florida

David O. Prevatt is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Florida, Engineering School for Sustainable Infrastructure, and the Environment where he currently holds the Kisinger Campo & Associates Term Professorship endowed chair. Dr. Prevatt is also a structural engineering consultant with over 30 years of experience in wind and forensic engineering and it is his passion to significantly advance how we conceive of and construct future houses in residential communities.

His research area encompasses laboratory-based and analytical studies to understand the structural load paths in low-rise buildings impacted by extreme winds. More recent research has seen him develop empirical models of tornado damage to residential buildings. Through post hazard field assessments, laboratory experimental research and analysis Dr. Prevatt is advancing knowledge for resilient and sustainable structures impacted by hurricanes and tornadoes.

Dr. Prevatt's recognizes the wide performance gap between residential structures and properly engineered ones as a solvable problem requiring adoption of engineering solutions through public engagement, education, and interaction with public policy. Dr. Prevatt is internationally known speaker, widely published author and an esteemed Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Structural Engineering Institute. 

Dil Thavarajah

Clemson University

Dr. Thavarajah is an organic pulse breeder who focuses on improving the nutritional quality of dry peas, lentils, and chickpeas to combat global obesity and micronutrient malnutrition. Dil leads the Pulse Biofortification and Organic Nutritional Breeding program (The nation's first public organic breeding program) at Clemson University, SC and co-leads the Phenomics of the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Crop Improvement at Cornell University. She is the 2022 FoodShot Global Award recipient for her career dedication to global food and nutritional security through pulse crop biofortification (Precision Protein Groundbreaker Prize). She established the "Going Organic Platform," an extension outreach education for our growers and consumers to educate on organic crop production and healthy food choices. Dil served as an honorary visiting lecturer at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and a partner to the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to release biofortified lentil cultivars for Africa and Asia. Dr. Thavarajah taught several courses: (1) PES 8710: Food Systems: Linking Agriculture to Human Health; (2) PES 8060: Pulse Breeding and Cultivar Development and undergraduate courses (1) PES 4960: Vegetable Crops; (2) PES 4760: Global Food Security – a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) with Sri Lanka, Rwanda, and Morocco (Science, Technology, and Society approval); and (3) HON 2060-003: Food System-World and History. Dil is the Past President of the North American Pulse Improvement Association (NAPIA) and the 2023 meeting hosting Chair for the NAPIA and Bean Improvement Cooperative (BIC) joint meeting at Clemson to host legume researchers worldwide. Dr. Thavarajah is the North American Representative for the International Food Legume Research Committee to host the 2025 meeting in Perth, Australia.

Inna Kouper

Indiana University Bloomington

Inna Kouper is Associate Scientist at the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Data Analyst at the Center for Survey Research and Senior Research Fellow at the Ostrom Workshop at Indiana University Bloomington. Her research focuses on emerging technologies, digital media, and data practices.

Dr. Kouper earned a PhD in sociology from the Institute of Sociology, Moscow, Russia in 2001, and a PhD in information science from Indiana University in 2011. She has published extensively on topics related to knowledge production and digital technologies, including hypertext, biotechnology, big data, data curation, and social media. Her current projects explore digital narratives of resistance and intellectual history of interdisciplinary scientific domains. Dr. Kouper is an active member of professional organizations including the Research Data Alliance (RDA), the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIST), and the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM). She teaches a course "Data management, access, and use of big and complex data" and mentors students underrepresented in STEM.

Krishnaswamy Jayachandran

Florida International University

Dr. Krish Jayachandran is a Distinguished University Professor of environmental microbiology/soil science in the Department of Earth and Environment. He received PhD in Plant Pathology with Soil Microbiology focus from Kansas State University, worked as a research Associate at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, and MS in Agricultural Microbiology BS in Agriculture from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Using microbiology as a central tool, he is specialized in regenerative agriculture, nutrient cycling and soil health, microbial diversity and activity, isolation and characterization of pesticide degrading microorganisms, biocontrol of invasive plant species, marine and freshwater toxins and microbial degradation, and soil-plant-microbial interactions with a core expertise in mycorrhizal and rhizobium symbiosis. His research projects have been funded by the ENP, SFWMD, USDA, NIEH, DOE, Silver Consortium, and World Bank/FAO. He has more than 300 publications, including referred articles, research reports, book chapters, conference publications, and over 50 invited lectures. Dr. Jayachandran co-founded the ongoing FIU Agroecology Program, which he built with the support of USDA grants of more than 17.0 million dollars towards research, education, student training, and outreach activities. Dr. Jayachandran has supervised directed research projects for >300 undergraduate students, graduated 60 master’s students, 15 PhD students, and served on numerous doctoral and master’s students committees. In his professional field, Dr. Jayachandran served as an Associate Editor for one of the premier environmental journals, Journal of Environmental Quality (2002-07), several journal’s Editorial Board, and currently Associate Editor for NACTA journal and the Soil Science Society of America journal. He also served on ~35 research panels (as panel member and panel manager) that included EPA, NSF, USDA agencies. Dr. Jayachandran received several awards for his teaching, research, mentorship, service, community engagement from FIU and Fellow of American Society of Agronomy, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Fellow, Israel Science Fellow, and recently became Jefferson Science Fellow.

Sharon A. Navarro

University of Texas at San Antonio

Sharon A. Navarro, a professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, is from El Paso, Texas, where she was born and raised. Her academic journey led her to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at El Paso before pursuing further studies at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she earned her master’s and doctorate degrees.

Highly regarded as an authority on Latinas in American politics, Dr. Navarro has made substantial contributions to the scholarly discourse through a prolific body of authored books and articles. Notable among her recent publications are Latino Political Power (2023) and The Color of COVID-19: The Racial Inequality of Marginalized Communities (2022), which scrutinize the intricate nexus of race, ethnicity, and political dynamics. Additionally, her scholarly portfolio includes seminal works such as Latinas and the Politics of Urban Space (2020) and Race, Gender, Sexuality, and the Politics of the American Judiciary (2018).

Dr. Navarro's research and teaching interests encompass women in politics, urban and ethnic politics, minority politics, and Latinx politics, all aimed at enriching American democracy. By exploring these areas, she seeks to illuminate the diverse voices and experiences that shape our political landscape. Furthermore, she dedicates her research efforts to examining policies that foster greater inclusivity of diverse voices, thereby enhancing representative democracy.

Beyond academia, Navarro finds solace in cycling and running, hobbies she enjoys during her spare time. An avid reader, she indulges in sci-fi horror literature. Additionally, she takes pride in being a military spouse.

Tracey Lamb

University of Utah

Dr Tracey Lamb is a Professor of Pathology at the University of Utah whose research focus is on malaria. She was educated in Scotland obtaining a BSc in Parasitology with 1 st class honors from the University of Glasgow before earning her PhD in parasite immunology at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She completed a 4-year Career Development Fellowship at the National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London before setting up her laboratory at Emory University in Atlanta Georgia. Tracey is an alumni of the “Biology of Parasitism” summer course held annually at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Wood’s Hole, Massachusetts. In addition to running a laboratory in the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah, she has undertaken research at the Centre Pasteur Cameroon in Central Africa for the last 9 years as an Adjunct Scientist working alongside Dr Lawrence Ayong, Head of the Malaria Unit. Tracey is an immunologist whose research focusses on dissecting how the immune system of children responds to the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria. The aim of her research is to identify new targets for the development of novel therapeutic strategies to treat this deadly disease. Dr Lamb has received many honors including the NIH Directors New Innovators Award (2013). She has also served in leadership positions for the American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.   She is currently an Academic Editor for PLoS Pathogens and is on the editorial board of the journals “Parasite Immunology” and “Cellular Immunology”. Tracey is passionate about educating the next generation of immunologists and has developed numerous courses for graduate students and is the editor of “Immunity to Parasitic Infection”, an educational textbook published by Wiley-Blackwell.

Venkataramana Sridhar

Virginia Tech

Dr. Venkataramana Sridhar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. He specializes in hydrology and conducts modeling research to understand the impact of climate change on various aspects of hydrology, water resources, agriculture, water management, droughts, floods, and integrated modeling of the food-energy-water nexus. Before joining Virginia Tech, Dr. Sridhar held affiliations at Boise State University, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and University of Washington. He earned his Ph.D. in Biosystems Engineering from Oklahoma State University in 2001. Dr. Sridhar's research group has developed computational hydrological models to generate datasets used in operational decision support systems for river basins in the United States and globally. He has worked on water and food security issues in regions such as the US, Caucasus, Central Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, aiming to improve land and water resources management.

As a Fulbright Scholar in 2018 and 2022, Dr. Sridhar conducted research in India. He also co-investigated the NASA-funded Mekong Basin project, studying the coupling of land, water, and livelihoods in the Lower Mekong River basin, facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration and capacity building in Southeast Asia. He closely worked with several Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Dr. Sridhar has authored over 160 research articles, including peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, technical papers, and has co-edited two books. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in Idaho and Nebraska, and a member of various professional organizations including the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, American Meteorological Society, American Water Resources Association, and American Geophysical Union. Additionally, he is a Board Certified American Academy of Water Resources Engineer and regularly reviews articles for leading international journals. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Sridhar has mentored numerous postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students, as well as overseas research scholars.

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Seven students receive 2024 NSF GRFP awards

2024 NSF GRFP recipients: (top) Liam Cotter, Nicholas David, Daniel Delgado. Bottom: Caroline Harms, Reegan Ketzenberger, Nina Perry and Davy Zeng.

Seven MSE students -- five graduate and two undergraduate -- received Graduate Research Fellowships (GRF) from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2024. The NSF GRF Program’s goal in offering these fellowships is to bolster a diverse and globally-engaged U.S. science and engineering workforce. 

With seven recipients, this year sets a record for MSE: the most NSF GRFP winners in one year in recent memory.

"The fact that seven MSE students were awarded prestigious NSF graduate fellowships underscores the exceptional quality of education and research opportunities we provide here at U-M," said Associate Professor Geeta Mehta, chair of the MSE graduate program. "These fellowships not only recognize the academic prowess and potential of these students but also highlight our unwavering commitment to fostering excellence in materials research."

Mehta went on to add that this year's success most likely correlates to the department's efforts to actively coach students applying for national awards like the NSF GRFP through bootcamps, a panel with successful NSF and other national award winners, and the opportunity to be paired one-on-one with a faculty member in a similar research area to provide critical pre-submission feedback.

"I think this infrastructure is important for ensuring success for our award winners," stated Mehta.

 Listed below are the 2024 award winners with a brief description of their research.

____________________________________ 

Liam Cotter '24, matriculating to Stanford to pursue PhD in MSE The ovarian tumor microenvironment facilitates a high rate of recurrence and mortality by accelerating disease progression and metastasis. Fluid accumulation within the peritoneal cavity, an abdominal space that houses the ovaries and other internal organs, follows ovarian cancer. The Mehta Lab hypothesizes that breathing and other movements can engender currents within this fluid that exert elevated fluid shear stress on the tumor. We use tissue engineered constructs and a fluid shear stress bioreactor to recapitulate the mechanical and transport properties of the ovarian tumor microenvironment. This allows us to probe the response of tumor-resident cells to fluid shear stress stimulation in an effort to understand the mechanisms of ovarian cancer progression and highlight targets for novel therapies.

Nicholas David, 2nd year PhD student in the Sun group In the modern age of computational materials discovery and design, hypothetical materials with superlative functional properties are routinely predicted in silico, which stimulate experimental efforts to synthesize these novel high-performance materials in the laboratory. However, there is currently a poor scientific understanding of what makes a predicted material synthesizable, or the best way to synthesize it. Hence, rapid prediction of novel materials is often followed by months of trial-and-error experimental efforts which are time-consuming, wrought with uncertainty, and often require an element of serendipity for success. My goal is to unravel those enigmatic, surprising aspects of chemical synthesis, using insights from both computation and theory, guided by big materials data. In addition, to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in higher education, I am leveraging natural language processing (NLP) methods to provide data-driven insights into graduate applications.

Daniel Delgado, 2nd year PhD student in the Dasgupta group (ME) Daniel is exploring sustainable engineering solutions directed at combatting the damaging effects of continual greenhouse gases emissions. In his research, Daniel applies novel nanomaterial synthesis techniques with the goal of answering the question--how can we create cleaner procedures for generating the fuels that power our economy? Towards this endeavor, he explores both electrochemical and photocatalytic routes for CO2 recycling, as well as investigating the mechanisms for light-induced ammonia synthesis. By pushing the boundaries of scientist's mechanistic understanding for sustainable chemical catalysis, Daniel hopes that it will inspire a push towards the implementation of cleaner fuels.

Caroline Harms, 1st year PhD student in the Pena-Francesch group   My research takes inspiration from nature to develop functional polymeric coatings that tailor interfacial interactions and behavior. More specifically, I seek to address currentantifouling limitations with respect to adhesion, durability, and scalability through the design of multilayer coatings that prevent biofilm formation across length scales. These coatings make use of dopamine derivative chemistries and designer crosslinking agents to enable robust and indiscriminate coating-substrate attachment, improve the coatings’ overall mechanical properties, and facilitate benign hydration-mediated repulsion of foulants. While my work is primarily intended for environmental and healthcare applications, its projected insights into adhesive mechanisms and the structure-property relationships that dictate antifouling performance will broadly elucidate interfacial phenomena that are still not well understood. 

Reegan Ketzenberger '24, matriculating to University of Colorado to pursue PhD in ME Traditional methods of hydrogen production such as coal gasification and natural gas steam reforming rely on fossil fuels, but electrolysis, the reaction that involves splittingwater with an electric current to produce hydrogen and oxygen, offers a clean alternative. My proposed research project seeks to understand the impact of porosity and tortuosity of sintered titanium porous transport layers on titanium passivation and in situ mass transportation limits in proton exchange membrane electrolyzers. Scanning electron microscopy is used to characterize surface morphology, capillary flow porosimetry is used to characterize porosity, x-ray computed tomography is used to characterize tortuosity, and electrochemical testing such as electrochemical impedance spectroscopy can be used to connect these material properties with cell performance.

Nina Pe rr y, 1st year PhD student in the Marquis group My research aims to uncover and understand the mechanisms behind phase transformations and microstructural evolution in high entropy alloys (HEAs) and their impact on properties. These materials exhibit unprecedented mechanical properties that have opened new possibilities in designing structural alloys that can sustain harsher environments. Existing research into HEAs has fixated on single-phase solid solutions and properties stemming from their chemical complexities, ignoring the alloys’ potential for novel microstructures. However, my research has indicated that some HEAs undergo phase decomposition offering unique microstructures at low and intermediate temperatures. Thus, I hope to use characterization techniques, including transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography, to study the mechanisms behind these transformations. This constitutes an uncharted materials research frontier whereby unlocking a wider range of desirable material properties lies in the potential to tailor HEA microstructures.

Davy Zeng, 1st year PhD student in the Dasgupta group (ME) My research is about studying the complex chemo-mechanical interfacial phenomenon associated with solid-state battery degradation. The two major failure mechanisms of lithium metal batteries are void formation and dendrite shorting, both of which occur due to imperfections at interfaces within the cell. Atomic layer deposition is a technique that allows for the deposition of nanometer thick conformal coatings. I will use these coatings to tune the surface energy of the interface, with the goal to promote even lithium deposition and alleviate the issue of dendrite shorting. Ultimately, this will allow for the commercialization of solid-state batteries and help facilitate the electrification of the transportation sector in our fight against climate change.

Eight CS-associated students and alums receive 2024 NSF-GRFP fellowships

5/20/2024 Bruce Adams

Eight students associated with Illinois Grainger Engineering Computer Science have received the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP), one of the nation's foremost fellowships for graduate study. Undergraduate seniors, as well as first—and second-year graduate students, may apply. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $37,000.

Written by Bruce Adams

The first program of the National Science Foundation, NSF-GRFP is one of the nation's foremost fellowships for graduate study.  It is competitively awarded to US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in the sciences, social sciences, engineering, and mathematics. One goal of the program is to broaden the participation of the full spectrum of diverse talents in STEM "so that the nation can build fully upon the strength and creativity of a diverse society." NSF Fellows have made significant contributions to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering.  As the GRFP website states, they "are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation’s technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large."  The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000 and a $16,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution). Honorable Mention is intended by NSF as a meaningful honor and is viewed as significant in many disciplines.

Fellowship Recipients

Chamika Sudusinghe

Sudusinghe is a first-year Illinois CS PhD student working with professor  Charith Mendis to develop data-driven approaches to accelerate systems. He has won the Upsilon Pi Epsilon Honor Society Award, the Lance Stafford Larson Student Award, and the Richard E. Merwin Student Scholarship.

Priyanka Kargupta

Kargupta is a second-year Illinois CS PhD candidate working on natural language processing and text mining research under professor Jiawei Han . Her work has been published at top conferences, and she also received the Intel SRC Research Fellowship for her undergraduate research at UC Berkeley.

Ananya Yammanuru

Yammanuru is a second-year PhD student interested in algorithms for motion planning and human-robot interaction. She is currently working on using workspace guidance for sampling-based motion planning as part of Parasol Lab under  Nancy Amato . She earned bachelor’s degrees in computer science and brain and cognitive science from Illinois.

Maxwell Fan Fan will be starting the PhD program at Cornell this coming fall. He majored in CS + Philosophy at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Illinois with the career goal of becoming a computer science professor researching programming languages and formal verification. He conducted research with computer science professors Talia Ringer and Charith Mendis and philosophy professor Jonathan Livengood and is a 2023 Goldwater Award winner. While at Illinois and during a summer internship at NASA in 2023, Fan proposed and developed a new temporal logic semantics. 

Mit Kotak Kotak is a graduate student at MIT CSE working with Tess Smidt and Saman Amarasinghe. He hopes to bring a  systems perspective to the geometric deep learning community. Kotak did his undergraduate work in  Engineering Physics at Illinois, where he was involved in numerical relativity, scientific computing, and HPC middlewares.

Peter Pao-Huang Pao-Huang is an incoming computer science PhD student at Stanford University. His research aims to develop machine learning algorithms to understand, treat, and reverse disease. Pao-Huang obtained a bachelor's degree in computer science from Illinois, advised by Vikram Adve , Bonnie Berger (MIT), and Morgan Levine (Altos Labs).

Honorable Mention

Eunice C. Chan

Chan is a graduate research assistant advised by CS professor Hanghang Tong . Her research explores the use of language models for interpretable question-answering over knowledge graphs. She is interested in explainable methods utilizing LLMs and graphs, researching fairness in the graph domain, and incorporating fairness in machine learning. Apurva Virkud

Virkud is a PhD student working with CS professors Adam Bates  and  Gang Wang . Her research interests are in security, privacy, and Internet measurement. Virkud graduated from the University of Michigan in 2020 with a BSE in computer science. Virkud was a research associate (2020 - 2022) in Professor Roya Ensafi's lab, working on projects related to  security  and  network censorship measurement . She also did research in computer aided diagnosis, automotive security, and analysis of C. elegan.

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This story was published May 20, 2024.

2024 NFS Graduate Research Fellowship Program announces awardees and honorable mentions

Twelve boilermakers from the College of Science are honored  

The National Science Foundation ( NSF ) has announced the 2024 Graduate Research Fellowship Program ( GRFP ) which included 20 awardees and 12 honorable mentions from Purdue University.  Of the pool of innovators, the Purdue University College of Science students stood out with ten awardee offers and two honorable mentions:  

Awardees:  

• Katie Wilson: Applied Math major with EAPS and CS minors; Field of study : Geosciences - Computationally Intensive Research  
• Abigail Haydee Soliven : Chemistry (ACS), Honors College with distinction, and a minor in English; Field of study : Chemistry - Chemical Catalysis  
• Meenakshi McNamara : Physics and Math major; Field of study : Mathematical Sciences - Quantum Information Science  
• Brady R Layman : Chemistry graduate student in Professor Jeffrey Dick’s laboratory; Field of study : Chemical Measurement and Imaging  
• Mikail Habib Khan : CS, with Mathematics minor; Field of study : Comp/IS/Eng - Formal Methods, Verification, and Programming Languages  
• Daniel Miroslav Hristov : Chemistry and Honors College; Field of study : Chemistry - Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanism  
• Stephanie Sara DeLancey : Chemistry with Psychology minor; Field of study : Chemistry - Undergraduate American Chemical Society accredited  
• Addison Curtis : EAPS graduate student; Field of study : Geosciences - Geochemistry  
• Grace Crim : Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, minor in Biological Sciences; Field of study : Engineering - Electrical and Electronic Engineering  
• Haleigh Brown : EAPS graduate student Field of study : Geosciences and Astrobiology  

Honorable Mentions:   

• Mariana Blanco-Rojas : EAPS graduate student  
• Sara Cuevas-Quiñones : Physics and EAPS major  

The purpose of the NSF GRFP is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. A goal of the program is to broaden participation of the full spectrum of diverse talents in STEM. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.  

To learn more about GRFP or to apply for future awards, current students at the undergraduate and graduate level can check the NSF GRFP resources webpage . The College of Science is proud of our students who are driven to instigate the next giants leaps in STEM and look forward to following their research into their five-year fellowships term.  

Learn more about some of the students who were offered the fellowship below.    

Katie Wilson :   

“I am about to graduate from Purdue with a bachelor’s degree in applied math and minors in computer science and EAPS at Purdue. I fell in love with atmospheric science at Purdue, specifically clouds, and am excited to continue my education on the topic in grad school. At Purdue, I have been deeply involved in the Women in Science Program as a mentee, mentor, and team leader, from which I have made so many fun memories and impactful relationships. Being awarded the GRFP changed my future and opened exciting opportunities for me. Because of it, I am now able to pursue research in a field that I am passionate about without having to stress much over funding, something that greatly influenced my graduate school decision. I am very grateful for the opportunity to prove myself and make discoveries with my research as a woman in science. My plans for the GRFP are to go to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and get my master’s through their Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Research Program. I plan to do research on cloud microphysics/aerosols to learn more about factors that affect cloud properties and how this impacts climate change using numerical models and remote sensing data.”  

Haleigh Brown :   

“I am a computational astrobiologist working within the PHAB lab under Associate Professor Stephanie Olson at Purdue’s Earth Atmosphere and Planetary Sciences department. Broadly my work involves using numerical climate models and machine learning to better understand exoplanet habitability. I have wonderful peers and mentors helping me achieve my goals and I am thrilled to have the support of the NSF GRFP as well. I am eager to take advantage of the new tools accessible to me now due to the NSF and I am confident this will aid in my ability to contribute great work within my field.”  

Mikail Habib Khan:   

“I'm a senior in Purdue Computer Science, working on Programming Languages research with some Physics Education work on the side. I want to eliminate incidental complexity from software engineering to make programming more productive and accessible. For fun I like skating, reading sci-fi/fantasy, and playing video games. I worked with Associate Professor Tiark Rompf on CS research and Professor Sanjay Rebello for physics. Assistant Professor Ben Delaware has also given me a ton of advice and told me to apply for the GRFP in the first place. To me, the GRFP means that I'll have more freedom to pursue my interests in grad school. I won't have to worry about finding a funded project, and I might be able to leverage it to more easily find visiting scholar positions. I'm starting a PhD at CMU, where there are a ton of advisors I'd love to work with. I might work on WebAssembly, Program Synthesis, or Verification.”  

Abigail Soliven  

“I am a senior earning my degree in chemistry on the ACS track and a minor in english. When not in the lab, I spend my time involved on campus or reading, soaking up sunshine, and making playlists. The NSF GRFP is a vote of confidence in my abilities as a researcher and the impact I can make in my field as a graduate student and beyond. Through the GRFP, I will be able to focus entirely on my work and advancing chemical knowledge by knowing I have the financial support and resources to be creative and inventive. I am pursuing a PhD in organic chemistry at UC Berkeley post-graduation from Purdue. Boiler up and go bears!”  

Stephanie DeLancey  

“I am graduating from Purdue with a BS  degree in chemistry (ACS) and a minor in psychology. I have worked in the Ren lab for three and a half years, studying iron-based organometallic complexes with applications in the catalysis and materials fields. I look forward to starting my PhD at UNC Chapel Hill in the fall where I will continue to pursue research themes rooted in sustainable chemistry. Being awarded an NSF GRFP was an incredible honor that greatly validated my potential as a researcher. I am so grateful to have been recognized by a prestigious institution and provided the financial support to pursue my research goals with greater freedom and focus in grad school. However, receiving this honor has also made me all the more thankful for my mentorship in the Ren group that shaped me into the scientist I am today.  Starting this summer, I will begin working towards my PhD in inorganic chemistry at UNC Chapel Hill. I hope to conduct impactful research with relevance to energy storage and conversion, potentially with the CHASE Solar Hub at UNC. I cannot wait to start my next chapter knowing the NSF GRFP will allow me to more freely explore these interests.”  

Grace Crim  

“I am majoring in biochemistry (Department of Chemistry) and electrical engineering. During my time at Purdue, I have been involved in research, WISP, WIE, and SWE, as well as first-generation student honors and ambassador programs. I am passionate about interdisciplinary research and involving multiple STEM communities to solve big research problems. The GRFP is an accomplishment that everyone in research recognizes. I learned about the prestige of the NSF GRFP in sophomore year, when the graduate student I was doing research under won the award herself. I was lucky to have incredible research advisors that helped me through learning about the fellowship application process and graduate school as a whole. Coming from financial need, having the financial freedom to pursue research without worrying about funding is a relief. My plans are to pursue a PhD in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. My goal is to design micro-scale sensors with biological processes and chemical detection in mind, specifically for wildlife monitoring and astrobiology. Lab on a chip technology is new and promising. I am hoping to diversify applications of this tech ethically and responsibly to help fields other than ECE. My PhD will consist of a lot of time in the semiconductor cleanroom and collaborating with researchers from other universities and national labs in many different fields. Purdue has prepared me well for this type of research and I can't wait to get started!”  

Daniel Hristov  

“I am originally from Knoxville, TN with backgrounds from Bulgaria and Puerto Rico. I have been completing research with Professor Julia Laskin’s group the past four years working with electrochemistry and mass spectrometry-based techniques to better understand the fundamentals of ions and charged interfaces. I really enjoyed working with my graduate mentor, Hugo and having meaningful discussions about the molecular dynamics of our systems. I am truly grateful to the valuable mentoring provided by Dr. Hugo Samayoa and Professor Julia Laskin, and the scientists I interned for at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Dr. Grant Johnson and Dr. Venky Prabhakaran, that allowed me to broaden horizons in my projects and think critically about results. This award has meant a great amount not only to myself as a scientist, but every scientist who has mentored and supported me throughout my four years. I will start my PhD in physical chemistry in the fall at the University of California Berkeley.”  

Addison Curtis:  

“I am a queer, disabled geologist currently working towards my master’s in earth science. My research in the Thermochronology @ Purdue Lab under Assistant Professor Marissa Tremblay focuses on using radioactive isotopes in specific minerals to determine the ages and thermal histories of rocks in the North Cascades, WA to better understand regional tectonic changes about 50 million years ago! Outside of my research, I am extremely passionate about geoscience education and increasing representation for both disabled and Queer individuals in geology and academia as a whole. I am extremely grateful to have received the NSF GRFP to support me through the rest of my graduate school career. I am honored to join a cohort of other Fellows and continue to strive for excellence in both science and outreach. Graduate school is difficult for anyone but especially for someone who holds my identities, so having this support helps to relieve some of that pressure. It is also extremely validating and encouraging to receive such an award, showing that despite my additional challenges, I am still an intelligent, capable scientist with potential to significantly impact my field. Since I am currently a master’s student, I plan on using the GRFP as support in my future PhD program. While I don’t know where I will be going next, this award allows me to be able to pursue the specific research that I am interested in at another institution without having to worry about the logistics of future funding.”   

Meenakshi McNamara  

“I am graduating with a math and physics double major, and I plan to become a professor someday. I am passionate about conducting research in these fields, as well as helping build community as I have been doing through club leadership and mentoring programs. In my free time, I love to read, write, and draw. You may also find me rock climbing or playing board games with friends. I am honored to have been awarded the NSF GRFP. Winning this fellowship means that the committee felt that I have the potential to become a strong graduate student and researcher, and this is very meaningful because my goal is to have a research career. Further, communicating pure math research well can be difficult, and I certainly learned important skills during the application process. Thus, it was amazing to see that these efforts paid off and I have more confidence in my ability to communicate about my research and apply for similar things in the future.”  

About the College of Science  

Purdue University’s College of Science is committed to the persistent pursuit of the mathematical and scientific knowledge that forms the very foundation of innovation. More than 350 tenure-track faculty conduct world-changing research and deliver a transformative education to more than 6,000 undergraduates and 1,750 graduate students. See how we develop practical solutions to today’s toughest challenges with degree programs in the life sciences, physical sciences, computational sciences, mathematics, and data science at www.purdue.edu/science .  

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