Leading the way: UCSB’s NSF graduate fellows span wide spectrum of research fields

From cell biology to artificial intelligence, the award winners of the annual National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) at UC Santa Barbara reflect the university’s broad span of disciplinary merit in research. This year, 18 UCSB graduate students and five undergraduates received the fellowship. 

“Our students’ success in winning this prestigious fellowship is testimony to the vibrancy of departments across campus,” said Leila J. Rupp, Interim Anne and Michael Towbes Dean of the Graduate Division. “From psychology and ecology to chemical engineering and physics, students are engaged in cutting-edge research that makes a difference in the world.”  

UCSB’s NSF graduate research fellows are Bryce Barbee, Louisa Cornelis, Aled Virgil Cuda, Lauren Nicole Enright, Emily G. Gemmill, Dylan Herman, Hailie E. Kittner, Quinn Tessa Kolt, Haarika Manda, Joyce E. Passananti, Sophia Paul, Sarah Allison Rose Payne, Tyler Nelson, Tachibana Pennebaker, Vade Sandip Shah, Ansh K. Soni, Zsofia Marta Szegletes, Ashley K. Yeh, Rachel Zhang. An additional 16 graduate students received honorable mentions.

The oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP 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 U.S. institutions. Fellowships are for a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 with an additional $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees and access to opportunities for professional development.