National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program 2019

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Forty-one Penn students and alumni have been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. These students and alumni were selected from over 12,000 applications nationwide. We congratulate these students, who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to their research, as well as the faculty mentors who have provided them with guidance and support along the way.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The 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.

Check here for more information about applying for the NSF GRFP at Penn.

• Tala F. Azar SEAS PhD student (Bioengineering) from Yonkers, New York, received an NSF in Engineering (Biomedical Engineering)
• Casey Michael O'Day Barkan SAS PhD student (Physics & Astronomy) from Eugene, Oregon, received an NSF in Physics and Astronomy (Condensed Matter Physics)
• Michael Joseph Boyle SEAS PhD student (Materials Science & Engineering) from Newtown, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Engineering (Materials Engineering)
• Thomas Brazelton SAS PhD student (Mathematics) from Madison, Wisconsin, received an NSF in Mathematical Sciences (Topology)
• Molly Elizabeth Brothers COL ‘17 (Biology) from San Antonio, Texas, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Genetics)
• Shuting Sarah Cai SEAS ’19 (Bioengineering) from Baltimore, Maryland, received an NSF in Engineering (Biomedical Engineering)
• Theodore Lewis Caputi WH ‘17 (Finance) from New Hope, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Social Sciences (Public Policy)
• Ashleigh Imani Cartwright SAS PhD student (Sociology) from Moorestown, New Jersey, received an NSF in Social Sciences (Sociology)
• Elizabeth Dresselhaus COL GAS 2017 (Physics and Astronomy) from Louisville, Colorado, received an NSF in Physics and Astronomy (Condensed Matter Physics)
• Vincent John Esposito SAS PhD student (Chemistry) from Lansdale, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Chemistry (Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanism)
• Alisa Feldman COL ‘18 (Health and Societies) from Newton Center, Massachusetts, a 2017-2018 Fulbright recipient, received an NSF in Social Sciences (Sociology)
• Andrea Elizabeth Frank SEAS 2017 (Bioengineering) from Holland, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Computer Science/Engineering (Human Computer Interaction)
• Ali Ghorashi COL ‘19 (Physics) from Portland, Maine, received an NSF in Physics and Astronomy (Condensed Matter Physics)
• Mark Robert Giovinazzi SAS PhD student (Physics & Astronomy) from Franklinville, New Jersey, received an NSF in Physics and Astronomy (Astronomy and Astrophysics)
• Jose J. Gorbea BGS PhD student (Biochemistry & Molecular Biophysics) from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Biochemistry)
• Benjamin Grau SEAS ’19 (Electrical Engineering) from Newport News, Virginia, received an NSF in Engineering (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
• Mathew Scott Halm SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Utica, Illinois, received an NSF in Computer Science / Information Science / Engineering (Robotics and Computer Vision)
• Brandon Henry Hayes SEAS PhD student (Bioengineering) from Miami, Florida, received an NSF in Engineering (Bioengineering)
• Yinghui Jane Esther Huang BGS PhD student (Cell & Molecular Biology) from Temple City, California, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Immunology)
• Laura Jarin-Lipschitz SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Computer Science / Information Science / Engineering (Robotics and Computer Vision)
• Alissa Claire Johnson SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Yardley, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
• Garrett Richard Kaighn SEAS PhD student (Electrical & Systems Engineering) from Quakertown, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Engineering (Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
• Hyong Seok Kim COL ’16 (Biology) from Seoul, South Korea, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Neurosciences)
• Travis Mark Kotzur SEAS PhD student (Bioengineering) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Engineering (Bioengineering)
• Timothy Eng Lee SEAS PhD student (Materials Science & Engineering) from Pine Brook, New Jersey, received an NSF in Materials Research (Chemistry of Materials)
• Kara McGaughey BGS PhD student (Neuroscience) from Sedona, Arizona, received an NSF in Psychology (Cognitive Neuroscience)
• Nina Rocio Montoya BGS PhD student (Cell & Molecular Biology) from Albuquerque, New Mexico, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Microbial Biology)
• Daniel Mox SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Computer Science / Information Science Engineering (Robotics and Computer Vision)
• Victoria Grace Muir SEAS PhD student (Bioengineering) from Hockessin, Delaware, received an NSF in Materials Research (Biomaterials)
• Kelsey Nemec BGS PhD student (Neuroscience) from Big Bend, Wisconsin, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Neurosciences)
• Erin Michelle Purvis BGS PhD student (Neuroscience) from Morgan Hill, California, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Neurosciences)
• Jordi Armani Rivera Prince COL ‘16 (Anthropology) from Holland, Michigan, received an NSF in Social Sciences - Anthropology (Bioarchaeology)
• Tahiya Salam SEAS PhD student (Electrical & Systems Engineering) from Atlantic City, New Jersey, received an NSF in Computer Science / Information Science / Engineering (Robotics and Computer Vision)
• Camilla Schneier COL ’17 (Physics and Economics) from Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Social Sciences (Economics)
• Margaret Elizabeth Schroeder SEAS Master's student (Bioengineering) from Palm Beach, Florida, received an NSF in Engineering (Bioengineering)
• Christopher Joseph Stabile SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Hazlet, New Jersey, received an NSF in Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)
• Olivia Teter SEAS ’19 (Bioengineering) from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, received an NSF in Engineering (Bioengineering)
• John Linehan Welde SEAS ’19, SEAS PhD student (Mechanical Engineering & Applied Mechanics) from Brewster, New York, received an NSF in Computer Science / Information Science Engineering (Robotics and Computer Vision)
• Khadija Deniece Wilson BGS PhD student (Pharmacology) from Brooklyn, New York, received an NSF in Life Sciences (Developmental Biology)
• Taniel Solarnge Winner SEAS ’15 (Bioengineering) MSE ’16 (Robotics) from Cascade, Trinidad and Tobago, received an NSF in Engineering (Biomedical Engineering)
• Wanling Zou SAS PhD student (Psychology) from Randolph, New Jersey, received an NSF in Social Sciences (Decision Making and Risk Analysis)

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 life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include 42 Nobel Prize winners, former U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, Google founder Sergey Brin, and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Fellows share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected. Fellows benefit from a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution), opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose.

NSF 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.

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