Eighteen students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been offered Graduate Research Fellowships from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Eleven are graduate students and seven are undergraduates. An additional 27 students were accorded Honorable Mention.
Launched in 1952 shortly after Congress established NSF, the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program represents the nation's oldest continuous investment in the U.S. scientific workforce. The program recruits high-potential, early-career researchers and supports their graduate training in science, social science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields.
This year, 2,051 awardees nationally were selected from more than 12,000 applicants. Awardees came from all 50 U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Honorable Mention recognition went to 1,540 individuals.
As with all of NSF’s grant and fellowship programs, applications were evaluated according to two criteria: Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts. To fulfill both criteria, applicants must demonstrate potential for becoming not only exemplary researchers but exemplary publicly engaged researchers who will use their knowledge and skills to benefit society.
Awardees receive three years of support. Support includes a $34,000 annual stipend along with a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance that covers tuition and fees. Awardees also have access to two professional development programs: the Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW) program, which supports students conducting research in overseas labs, and the Graduate Research Internship (GRIP) program, which provides on-site experience in federal agencies. Fellows also have access to NSF’s Career-Life Balance initiative.
Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, dean of the Graduate College, says “The NSF-GRF honors students whose accomplishments both inside and outside the classroom indicate great promise as future science leaders. We congratulate all those students whose efforts have culminated in this prestigious award.”
According to Ken Vickery, director of fellowships in the Graduate College, “The continuous vitality of the GRF program over the past 60 plus years testifies to the importance of graduate education in the nation's effort to promote scientific discovery and technological advancement. The fellowship is one of the highest accolades a graduate student in the sciences can receive, and it's wonderful to see that so many of our students have been so honored."
Listed below are the currently enrolled students from the University of Illinois offered fellowships and accorded Honorable Mention. A nationwide list of winners is available on the NSF-GRF FastLane website. For additional details, visit the NSF-GRF webpage. Students applying this fall should consult the resources provided in the NSF-GRF listing in the Graduate College's Fellowship Finder database and contact the Graduate College Office of External Fellowships.
AWARDEES:
- Oscar Rodrigo Araiza Bravo (Mathematics)
- Bolton Bailey (Computer Science)
- Brandon Mark Buncher (Physics)
- Rianna Bliss Greer (Chemistry)
- Erick Ivan Hernandez (Chemical Engineering)
- Margaret Lawson (Computer Science)
- Athena Lin (Materials Science & Engineering)
- Grace Meng-wei Lu (Materials Science & Engineering)
- Ian Griffith Ludden (Computer Science)
- Kelly Mack (Computer Science)
- Julian May-Mann (Physics)
- Tara Yasmin Mina (Electrical & Computer Engineering)
- Ana Irene Mitchell (Nutritional Sciences)
- Kathleen Brooke Oolman (Physics)
- Anand-Markose Thomas Poozhikunnel (Chemistry)
- Carly Joan Romnes (Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering)
- Erin N Tevonian (Bioengineering)
- Alison Wallum (Chemistry)
HONORABLE MENTION:
- Nicholas Dolan Antonson (Animal Biology)
- Alexandra Baumgart (Mechanical Science & Engineering)
- Piush Behera (Materials Science & Engineering)
- Christopher Caroff (Chemistry)
- Jiming Chen (Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering)
- Armando Rafael Collazo Garcia (Aerospace Engineering)
- Oleg Davydovich (Chemistry)
- Luis Miguel De Jesus Astacio (Physics)
- Heidi Lee Doden (Animal Sciences)
- Jessica Gasparik (Atmospheric Sciences)
- Jesann Marie Gonzalez Cruz (Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences)
- Alexander Hasnain (Bioengineering)
- Nathan Holcomb Jay (Computer Science)
- Dahyeon Kang (Psychology)
- Sven Hermann-Michael Kaster (Chemistry)
- Kathryn Carolyn Kemp (Psychology)
- Brenda Lee (Psychology)
- Melissa Lucero (Chemistry)
- Sara Grace Moshage (Mechanical Science & Engineering)
- Daniel Celis Najera (Chemistry)
- Nicholas Ian Rinehart (Chemistry)
- Ryan Philip Henry Shaw (Molecular and Integrative Physiology)
- Peter Sokalski (Mechanical Science & Engineering)
- Stephanie Soriano (Neuroscience)
- Sonata Mae Valaitis (Nuclear, Plasma and radiological Engineering)
- Austin Tyler Weigle (Chemistry)
- Jackson Scott Winter (Bioengineering)
- Liran Ziegelman (Neuroscience)