NSF Announces 2023 Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) Awardees
Seven CCS students awarded distinguished fellowship
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the 2023 Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) awardees. Seven recipients of this award are or were CCS undergraduates. The College extends its congratulations to all of the CCS and other UCSB recipients with wishes for much success as they embark on their future endeavors as experts in their fields, contributing to the well-being of society at large.
“Our CCS students are working hard every day to find new ways to create knowledge and understanding in the world and we have so much to be proud of their accomplishments––including these 7 awardees––who will have an unique and prestigious opportunity to continue their creativity into graduate school through the support of the National Science Foundation.” —Timothy Sherwood, CCS Interim Dean
The CCS students include:
—Sam Alcott ‘23 (CCS Physics) (Will pursue a Ph.D. in Physics at University of California, Berkeley).
—Marianne Arriola ‘23 (CCS Computing) (Will pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science at Cornell University)
—Pieter Derksen ‘20 (CCS Physics) (Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Physics at University of California, Santa Barbara)
—Samuel F. Gebretsadkan ‘ 23 (CCS Physics) (Will pursue a Ph.D. in Physics at Harvard University)
—Logan Gonzalez ‘20 (CCS Biochemistry) (Currently a microbiologist at The Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire)
—Chloe Jenniches ‘23 (CCS Biology) (Will pursue a Ph.D. in Marine Biology at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at University of California, San Diego)
—Ryan Judy ‘22 (CCS Biology) (Currently a research assistant at the Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. Will not accept NSF GRFP as he will be pursuing a Ph.D. in the United Kingdom.)
CCS also extends warm congratulations to those who received Honorable Mention:
—Sean Benevedes ‘21 (CCS Physics)
CCS faculty offer dedicated mentorship and advice to our curious and passionate undergraduate students of whom approximately 70 percent pursue master’s and doctoral degrees, identified from an alumni survey several years ago. The College acknowledges the efforts by CCS Biology Faculty John Latto and Claudia Tyler who teach a colloquium at CCS, open to any students in all 8 majors, focused on applying to graduate school and covers the GRFP. Past CCS GRFP recipients, including those who have participated in the CCS colloquium in past years, have returned to CCS to speak at this colloquium to current students, possible GRFP future applicants.
This prestigious graduate fellowship program supports outstanding graduating seniors and beginning 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 of higher education. GRFP is the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind and has a tradition of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers.
Fellows benefit from a three-year annual annual stipend along with a cost of education allowance for tuition and fees, opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution that offers graduate education. These NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering.