UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa — Eleven recent Penn State baccalaureate graduates have been selected for the U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF-GRFP). The program supports students at graduate institutions across the U.S. as they pursue a master's or doctoral degree.
Later this year, the University will release the list of fellowship recipients who will be attending Penn State using their NSF-GRFP.
NSF-GRFP is a five-year fellowship that provides a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 annually, and $16,000 annually toward education costs to those pursuing graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Recipients have the choice to study at any accredited U.S. institution.
To aid in preparation for applying to the NSF-GRFP, The Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowship Mentoring (URFM) developed a self-paced Canvas course that provides resources for the writing portions of the application, including exercises, guides, sample materials and recorded webinars. Register for the Canvas course here. Current undergraduate and graduate students can participate.
URFM staff are available throughout the summer to read and give feedback to undergraduate and graduate students and alumni on their application drafts, which will be accepted until two weeks before the deadline for each field of study. To send materials for review, email urfm@psu.edu or set up an in-person or Zoom appointment via Starfish to discuss an application. Alumni may contact the URFM office via their email to set up an appointment. Deadlines begin in mid-October and vary depending on the field of study.
Penn State undergraduate alumni who earned an NSF-GRFP
Although the Penn Staters in the following list all earned a GRFP, some may ultimately decline the award to pursue other opportunities.
“We want to celebrate all the hard work our students not only put into their applications, but their accomplishments that made them competitive applicants up to this point,” said Tineka Lebrun, director of URFM. “We worked with over 160 Penn Staters to help them prepare their applications, and to have so many who ultimately earned an NSF-GRFP speaks to the quality of their work and the efforts of our amazing faculty at Penn State.”
The following is a list of Penn State undergraduate alumni who earned an NSF-GRFP and their field of study:
- Martha Lisbeth Christino, engineering — energy engineering
- Mitch Dobbs, psychology — cognitive psychology
- Taryn A. Green, psychology — cognitive psychology
- Shana Lei Hartwick, engineering — mechanical engineering
- Sonika Kohli, engineering — biomedical engineering
- Abbey Jean Kollar, engineering — systems engineering
- Ryan J. Menges, engineering — aeronautical and aerospace engineering
- Hannah Vance Peacock, engineering — agricultural engineering
- Ian Rivera, engineering — mechanical engineering
- Jay S. Sim, engineering — mechanical engineering
- Anna R. Tartaglia, physics and astronomy — astronomy and astrophysics
The following undergraduate alumni earned honorable mentions:
- Haley Altadonna, life sciences — ecology
- Rachel M. Bonfini, engineering — biomedical engineering
- Caroline J. Brustoloni, engineering — electrical and electronic engineering
- Abigail Grace Idiculla, engineering — civil engineering
- Divya Tyagi, engineering — aeronautical and aerospace engineering
Undergraduate Research and Fellowships Mentoring is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.