In the past academic year, Notre Dame graduate students were awarded a record amount in fellowships and grants—$4.24 million—from organizations and entities around the world. The 2013-2014 cumulative award amount is $1.1 million more than the previous academic year and represents a 14% increase in the number of students applying for outside awards.
Included among the awards were:
- 11 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships
- 5 Fulbright Awards
- 2 American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellowships
- 2 Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fund awards
- 1 each of the Microsoft Graduate Women’s Fellowship, the Mellon ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, the Earhart Foundation Fellowship, and the Whitaker International Fellowship.
Students who received awards that provide full support for one year or more are listed at the bottom of the page, along with detailed profiles of six awardees.
“The Graduate School celebrates the success of all students who applied for and received external awards,” says Laura Carlson, Vice President, Associate Provost, and Dean of the Graduate School. “Graduate training should include learning how to write and submit grant proposals to fund one’s own work. The Graduate School is committed to providing resources and services to assist students throughout the external funding process, including one-on-one consultations, boot camps, peer review, and workshops on finding opportunities, crafting proposals, conducting audience analyses, and submitting formal applications.”
As part of this increased effort, Dr. Michael Westrate, Associate Program Director for Grants and Fellowships, conducts two five-week summer support programs, one for the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (STEM students) and another for students in the Humanities and Social Sciences. He also offers a wide range of other workshops and events, including a workshop series for the Fulbright program and another for international students, as well as an intensive application writing “boot camp” each fall break.
This year, the Fall Break boot camp ran from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and was co-sponsored by the Graduate School and the Writing Center. Students from all three colleges—Arts and Letters, Engineering, and Science—attended each day, with the Grants and Fellowships team completing 201 consultations for 86 students that week. These students will be learning of their awards during Spring 2015.
Claire Bowen
Claire (Chow) Bowen (Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics) received the Microsoft Graduate Women’s Scholarship for her research on the privacy of “big data.” Claire is developing an algorithm that provides a high level of privacy protection to media users and online consumers while preserving the statistical structure of big datasets for researchers, corporations, and government agencies—who use big data to make better decisions, discover new correlations, and optimize their systems.
Katie Bugyis
Katie Bugyis (Medieval Studies) was awarded a Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship for her dissertation: “Ministers of Christ: Benedictine Women Religious in Early and Central Medieval England.” Katie’s dissertation uncovers the liturgical and pastoral ministries performed by Benedictine women religious in England from 900 to 1200, primarily through analyses of the original liturgical manuscripts that these communities produced and used.
Patrick Conry
Patrick Conry (Civil Engineering) was awarded a three-year National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship to continue his study of flow and turbulence in the portion of our atmosphere closest to earth—particularly in urban areas and mountainous terrain. Through analysis of vast observational datasets taken in actual atmospheric environments, Patrick hopes to make discoveries that will improve the prediction of weather and air quality in these areas. Future applications may include the safe transport of supplies and troops.
Charles J. Fagan
Charles J. Fagan (Political Science) received an Earhart Foundation Fellowship to complete his dissertation, “Smothering the Baby in the Cradle? Reacting to the Rise of New Great Powers. “ Charles uses two case studies—Prussia’s rise during the 19th century and China’s rise during the second half of the 20th century— to examine how existing great powers react to emerging great powers. He argues that the lessons of these events allow us to make predictions on how the United States will respond to events today and in the future.
Thomas A Metzger
Thomas A. Metzger (Bioengineering) received the Whitaker International Fellowship and the U.S. Student Fulbright Award. As a visiting researcher at the National University of Ireland, Galway, his focus will be the internal workings of cells in the spongy portion of bones when they convert mechanical signals into biochemical responses. His work could lead to the development of non-pharmaceutical treatments for such bone diseases as osteoporosis.
Triet Nguyen
Triet Nguyen (Chemistry and Biochemistry) was awarded a three-year National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship for research in time-dependent quantum mechanics. She is developing new theories and computational tools to simulate the movement and transformation of energy in light-harvesting materials, such as solar cells. These techniques will allow us to make better energy-collecting materials with less time and expense.
STUDENTS WHO RECEIVED AN EXTERNAL AWARD THAT PROVIDES FULL SUPPORT FOR ONE OR MORE YEARS
| Katie Condit | Sociology | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Patrick Conry | Civil Engineering and Geological Studies | National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship |
| Charlotte Cunningham | Psychology | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Dipanwita Dasgupta | Computer Science and Engineering | Catholic Health East/Trinity Health Fellowship |
| Hilary Davidson | Sociology | Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study Graduate Fellowship |
| Andrew Dupont | ACE | Fulbright Fellowship |
| Charles Fagan | Political Science | Earhart Foundation H.B. Earhart Fellowship |
| Cody Forsberg | Economics | National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration |
| Karrie Fuller | English | Medieval Academy of America Schallek Fellowship |
| Danielle Fulmer | Sociology | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Scott Hefelfinger | Theology | Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship |
| Hannah Hemphill | Theology | Fulbright Fellowship |
| Bonnie Huge | Chemistry and Biochemistry | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Jessica Hughes | English | American Association of University Women Dissertation Completion Fellowship |
| Shailaja Kunda | Chemistry and Biochemistry | Schlumberger Foundation Faculty of the Future Fellowship |
| Robert L’Arrivee | Political Science | Earhart Foundation H. B. Earhart Fellowship |
| Brian Long | Medieval Studies | Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship |
| Elizabeth Loughran | Chemistry and Biochemistry | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Shant Mahserejian | ACMS | Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship |
| Edwin Mathews | Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering | National Science Foundation Blue Waters Fellowship |
| Kevin McCabe | Theology | Louisville Institute Dissertation Completion Fellowship |
| Thomas Metzger | Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering | Whitaker International Fellowship |
| Nicholas Myers | Chemistry and Biochemistry | United States Pharmacopeia Global Fellowship |
| Amy Nelson | Medieval Studies | Fulbright Fellowship |
| Triet Nguyen | Chemistry and Biochemistry | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Nicole Perez | Sociology | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Carolyn Shirey | Chemistry and Biochemistry | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Daniel Sportiello | Philosophy | Notre Dame Institute for Advanced Study Graduate Fellowship |
| Cheyenne Tait | Biological Sciences | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |
| Sara Troyani | Literature | Fulbright Fellowship |
| Jacob Zwart | Biological Sciences | National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship |