Five Dietrich School students were awarded 2019 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Six Dietrich School students also earned honorable mentions.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is designed to ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce in the United States. The program recognizes and supports outstanding students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees. Fellows receive an annual stipend of $34,000 for three years, as well as a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees.
The support accorded to NSF Graduate Research Fellows is intended to nurture awardees’ ambition to become lifelong leaders who contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching.
“Receipt of an NSF Fellowship award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our undergrad and graduate students, and to their faculty mentors and advisors. It is also one of the most highly recognized indicators of early success in a scientific research career,” said Nathan Urban, vice provost for graduate studies and strategic initiatives at Pitt. “The University is committed to increasing support for future NSF-GRFP applicants through the application process while we congratulate this year’s winners.”
Current Dietrich School students who were awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship are:
Samantha Shablin (ecology); Esther Esmeralda Palacios-Barrios (developmental psychology); Samantha Fontaine (evolutionary biology); Shirley Duong (developmental psychology); and, Tiffany Lynn Betras (ecology).
Current Dietrich School students receiving honorable mentions are:
Julia Sarah Feldman (developmental psychology); Mattheus De Souza (macromolecular chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and nanochemistry); Nick Chehade (neurosciences); Kevin Christopher Cassidy (biophysics); Anthony Travis Bogetti (chemical theory, models and computational methods); and, Sarah L. Aghjayan (clinical health psychology).