The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced the winners of its 2019 Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP), with 14 University of Notre Dame students and alumni winning the highly coveted award and another 12 receiving honorable mentions.
Inaugurated in 1952, the NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding students in the NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. It is the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind.
The program offers three years of financial support in the form of a $34,000 annual stipend and a $12,000 cost-of-education allowance, in addition to professional development and international research opportunities.
In applying for the award, undergraduate students and alumni work with the Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) at Notre Dame, while graduate students work with the Graduate School’s Office of Grants and Fellowships.
“Our congratulations go to those who have been recognized by the NSF this year. They are a talented group, all of whom are exemplars of the two core NSF criteria of intellectual merit and broader impacts,” said Jeffrey Thibert, the Paul and Maureen Stefanick Director of CUSE. “I hope that their success inspires all undergraduates planning to apply for eligible graduate programs to also apply for the NSF GRFP, and I encourage them to work with CUSE and their faculty mentors to help them put together the strongest application possible.”
Samantha Lee, program director for the Office of Grants and Fellowships at the Graduate School, said, “It is wonderful to see so many of our outstanding graduate students being selected for these prestigious and increasingly competitive awards. We want to congratulate our graduate students and their faculty mentors on their outstanding research toward being a force for good.”
Undergraduate students interested in this and other fellowship opportunities can visit CUSE at cuse.nd.edu. Graduate students can email the Office of Grants and Fellowships at gradgrants@nd.edu.
The 14 NSF GRFP awardees are:
Haley Barlow, cell biology
Matthew Beddel, bioengineering
Braeden Benedict, biomedical engineering
Maura Eveld, mechanical engineering
Katherine Gallagher, algebra, number theory and combinatorics
Eliza Herrero, chemical measurement and imaging
John Huber, ecology
Andrew Latham, chemical theory, models and computational methods
Anne Leonhard, materials theory
Daniel O’Connor, economics
Matthew Perez, computational science and engineering
Sam Portier, astronomy and astrophysics
Michael Silvernagel, biomedical engineering
Caitlin Sisk, cognitive psychology
The 12 honorable mentions are:
Alexandra Bodnar, chemical synthesis
Patrick Dorin, mechanical engineering
Jeffrey DuBose, macromolecular, supramolecular and nanochemistry
Claire Goodfellow, evolutionary biology
William Kasberg, biochemistry
John Nganga, mechanical engineering
Sarah Petersen, topology
Derek Prijatelj, natural language processing
Lindy Sherman, chemical measurement and imaging
Audrey Thellman, ecology
Meghanne Tighe, sustainable chemistry
Chelsea Weibel, evolutionary biology
Contact: Erin Blasko, assistant director of media relations, 574-631-4127, eblasko@nd.edu