Nine doctoral students awarded prestigious fellowships for advanced research
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – The U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility is pleased to announce the selection of nine new graduate fellows for the 2024-2025 academic year. Funded by the Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) Initiatives Fund program, these fellowships allow exceptional doctoral students to collaborate with leading researchers, expand their professional network and pursue advanced studies at their universities.
Awardees are selected based on merit and quality of proposed research, utility and relevance of proposed research to Jefferson Lab and proposed utilization of lab resources, as well as academic qualifications, letters of recommendation and likelihood of accomplishment of proposed research objectives by graduation.
The 2024-2025 JSA/Jefferson Lab graduate fellowship recipients and their advisors are:
- Trey Anderson, William & Mary, with advisor Wally Melnitchouk
- Gregory Blume, Old Dominion University, with advisor Sylvain Marsillac
- Muhammad Junaid, University of Regina, with advisor Garth Huber
- Atharva Naik, George Washington University, with advisor Andrei Afanasev
- Sara Ratliff, George Washington University, with advisor Axel Schmidt
- Abhyuday Sharda, University of Tennessee, with advisor Nadia Fomin
- Avnish Singh, Catholic University, with advisor Tanja Horn
- Yushan Su, University of Maryland, with advisor Xiangdong Ji
- Yijie Wang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with advisor Richard Milner
Fellowship recipients will receive stipends to support their research assistantships and will engage directly with Jefferson Lab mentors and collaborating scientists. Upon completion of the academic year, fellows submit a report detailing their research accomplishments, presentations and publications.
"The financial support provided by the fellowship alleviates the burden of expenses as a graduate student, allowing me to focus entirely on my research without financial stress," said Avnish Singh, emphasizing the impact of being a JSA recipient. "Additionally, it widens the scope of accessing state-of-the-art resources and the chance to collaborate with leading experts in the field by attending international conferences and meetings."
"Doctoral students are an integral part of my research. I believe that one of the main objectives of being a researcher in an academic environment is education and to train the next generation of researchers," said Catholic University Professor and Graduate Advisor Tanja Horn. "The symbiotic relationship enables knowledge sharing, expertise acquisition, and collaborative work that advances my research and thus also the knowledge for community and the wider world."
The JSA Fellowship experience extends beyond the monetary impact of research. The program fosters collaboration, allowing fellows to pave the way for networking and transformative scientific research projects.
Eligible students must be enrolled full-time in a relevant doctoral program at a Southeastern Universities Research Association member university. Awards are limited to two years, and students seeking second-year support must reapply with a complete application.
"I think the number one thing I've gained from this experience so far has been broadening my community as a researcher," said Sara Ratliff, who is receiving a JSA Graduate Fellowship for a second year.
The JSA Initiatives Fund supports the fellowship program, fostering scientific outreach and promoting the missions of Jefferson Lab. This initiative complements the lab's basic and applied research focus and benefits the broader lab user community.
Contact Michelle Alvarez, Jefferson Lab Communications Office, malvarez@jlab.org