Jessica Toth, a graduate student in IIGB/CEPCEB Associate Professor Sean Cutler’s lab, was one of 11 UCR graduate students and 2000 national awardees among 16,500 applicants who received a three-year NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. The GRFP provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period ($34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution) for graduate study that leads to a research-based master’s or doctoral degree in science or engineering.

The GRF awardees at UC Riverside for 2015 are: Maria Theresa Sekyi (bioengineering); Samuel Douglas Patton (environmental engineering); Ariana Elaine Nguyen (material science); Jessica Lynee McKinley (chemistry); Katie Marie Magnone (chemistry); Alina M. Escalera (physics and astronomy); Benjamin David Yetton (psychology); Lauren Walker (cell biology); Jessica Nichole Toth (organismal biology); Jerlyn L. Swiatlowski (geosciences); and Laura Quinones-Camacho (psychology).

NSF accords “Honorable Mention” to meritorious applicants who do not receive fellowship awards — also a significant national academic achievement. Eight UCR graduate students received honorable mentions this year. Six students who got their bachelor’s degrees at UCR but are now in graduate school elsewhere also were awarded GRFs.

Former NSF Fellows include numerous individuals who have made transformative breakthroughs in science and engineering, become leaders in their chosen careers, and been honored as Nobel laureates. The GRFP is a critical program in NSF’s overall strategy to develop the globally-engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation’s leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents and are selected through the NSF peer review process.