mit chemistry phd funding

Graduate Funding

Any student admitted to an EAPS doctoral program can expect to receive financial support that includes a stipend, full tuition, and health insurance. First year support may be in the form of a fellowship or research assistantship. Support in the following years is most commonly from a research assistantship or teaching assistantship. Continuation of support for the length of a five-year program is based on the student making adequate progress toward the degree.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for independent fellowships from outside private agencies or government. If an independent fellowship falls below the EAPS level of support, the department will supplement this external fellowship with either a fellowship or research assistantship. If you are awarded a fellowship from some other source, please contact the  EAPS Education Office  to discuss department policy on merging various sources of support. 

The MIT Office of Graduate Education maintains comprehensive resources for funding opportunities, both internal and external, and provides advising and support.

Below is a representative list of some of the types of funding EAPS students have pursued.

Example External Funding Sources for Graduate Education

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program Provides three years of support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees and is intended for students who are at the early stages of their graduate study.

NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Opportunities (NSTGRO) Seeks to sponsor U.S. citizen and permanent resident graduate students who show significant potential to contribute to NASA’s goal of creating innovative new space technologies for our Nation’s science, exploration and economic future. 

American Meteorological Society Graduate Fellowships Offered to students entering first-year graduate studies in atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences.

American Society for Engineering Education ASEE administers a number of fellowship and research opportunities with funding provided by the Federal agencies including the Department of Defense (DOD), and the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Office of Science Graduate Fellowship (SCGF) Program Supports outstanding graduate students pursuing graduate training in basic research in areas of physics, biology (non-medical), chemistry, mathematics, engineering, computational and computer sciences, and environmental sciences relevant to the Office of Science mission areas.

Fannie and John Hertz Foundation The Hertz Fellowship is awarded annually to the nation’s most promising graduate students in science and technology. Using a rigorous, merit-based process, we identify innovators with the greatest potential to create transformative solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges.

DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellowship Program Provides benefits and opportunities to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems, including aeronautics, astrophysics, biological sciences, chemical engineering, chemistry, electrical engineering, environmental science, materials science, mechanical engineering, and physics.

Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD)   Formerly the National Physical Science Consortium (NPSC), founded in 1989 “To increase the number of American citizens with graduate degrees in STEM fields, emphasizing recruitment of a diverse applicant pool.” Graduate Fellowships for STEM Diversity (GFSD) is a partnership between federal agencies & laboratories, industry, and higher education institutions.

Small Research Grants Available to Graduate Students

GSA Research Grants Program for Students The primary role of the GSA research grants program is to provide partial support of master’s and doctoral thesis research in the geological sciences for graduate students at universities in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Central America. In 2006, 47% of the applicants received funding with the average award being $1963

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Grants-in-Aid Program The purpose of the Program is to foster research in the geosciences by providing support to graduate students in the earth sciences whose research has application to the search for and development of petroleum and energy-minerals resources, and to related environmental geology issues.

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All students are granted a financial package that follows the general guidelines below. Please note that figures are for current academic year.

• Our funding package covers a period of five years, guaranteed to doctoral students in good academic standing.
• Students receive full academic year tuition plus a monthly fellowship stipend (current rate $4,497 per month) and/or TA/RA salary for each of 12 months per year.
• Students receive 12 terms of fellowship stipend during their 15 terms (summer, fall, spring) in the program; TA/RA provides salary for the balance of 3 terms. 
• Student medical insurance is provided, currently valued at $3,237 per year. 
• A new laptop computer is supplied at the beginning of the first and fourth years (estimated value of $2,000 each).
• A $4,500 conference travel and research budget is allocated over 5 years in the program.

Should you require additional funding, information on loans may be obtained from Student Financial Services .

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Funds in need of support

The following multi-donor endowed and expendable funds are in need of further support.

Matching opportunities are in place for:

Buchwald-Haber Family Fund

Richard r. schrock fellowship fund.

An endowed fund to support graduate students with a preference for those studying organic chemistry.

“MIT and the Chemistry Department have been instrumental in my success,” says Steve. “The key has been the exceptional quality of the graduate students. Susan and I feel that this fund can symbolize our gratitude for their outstanding effort.” Read more about Steve & Susan .

Creating Bonds with Chemistry Program

A (Pilot) Program for URG chemistry majors and their advisors to partner with chemistry faculty on research projects.

Chemical Bonding Fellows (CBFs) will spend 9 weeks in Chemistry over the summer, carrying out collaborative research. All expenses will be covered including participation in the MIT’s Summer Research Program (MSRP)’s educational and social activities. No proceeds from funding sought will be used to support MIT Chemistry faculty or MIT Chemistry students.

Chemistry Graduate Student Committee

The CGSC strives to improve graduate student quality of life by fostering a sense of community.

The CGSC fosters community through departmental social events, forums, and intramural sports teams, an annual career panel series, where alumni share insights on careers in industry, consulting, law, science policy, academia and others. CGSC advocates on behalf of graduate students in regular meetings with the Department Head, faculty, Chemistry Department administration and institute representatives.

Chemistry Renovations Fund

An expendable fund used to renovate research space.

The renovation of nanochemistry and nanotechnology lab space was completed in 2016.

Discretionary Fund

An expendable fund used to rapidly target funds to new opportunities as they arise.

“Discretionary funds are critical to maintaining the vitality of the department and I greatly appreciate the flexibility they provide me in my role as Department Head.”

Timothy F. Jamison Robert R. Taylor Professor of Chemistry and Department Head

Graduate Student Support Fund

An expendable fund providing essential financial support to graduate students.

“The department is charged with the important task of educating some of the best minds in the world who have the potential to impact our future profoundly. To remain competitive, we need to be in a position to offer a greater level of fellowship support.”

Instrumentation Replacement and Renewal

An expendable fund to replace and renew instrumentation, as needed, in the Department of Chemistry.

Rather than maintain instruments in the twilight of their operational lifetimes (a rear-guard action, at best), the solution is to renew instruments as they become outdated.

John S. Waugh Lectureship in Physical Chemistry

An endowed lectureship created to memorialize Waugh’s pioneering contributions to nuclear magnetic resonance.

“John was an extremely humble giant in the development of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy,” says Sylvia Ceyer, former head of MIT’s Department of Chemistry. “His keen wit, razor-sharp intellect, and extraordinary sense of humor made him a treasured jewel among his colleagues.”

Michael S. Feld Memorial Fellowship

An endowed fund to support graduate students with a preference for those working in the area of spectroscopy.

The Michael S. Feld Fellowship Fund was set up in his memory by his former students, family members, and coworkers.

An endowed fund to support graduate students working in any area of chemistry.

The Richard R. Schrock Fellowship Fund to support graduate students was established to honor Professor Schrock’s achievement in winning the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Robert J. Silbey Memorial Fund

An endowed fund to support graduate students in any area of Chemistry.

The endowed Robert J. Silbey Memorial Fellowship fund was set up in his memory by his former students, family members, and coworkers.

Satoru Masamune Memorial Fellowship Fund

An endowed fund to support graduate students in any area of chemistry.

The Satoru Masamune Memorial Fellowship fund was set up in his memory by his former students, family members, and coworkers.

Stephen J. Lippard Fellowship Fund

The Stephen J. Lippard Fellowship Fund to support graduate students was established in 2006 to honor Professor Lippard’s achievement in winning the National Medal of Science.

Undergraduate Teaching Lab Legacy Fund

A fund for updating equipment and transforming undergraduates’ imaginations into reality.

The Undergraduate Teaching Lab Legacy Fund was established with the intention of updating equipment and transforming undergraduates’ imaginations into reality. Donate today and be a part of $2,500,000.

Walter H. Stockmayer Memorial Fund

An endowed fund to support graduate students in memory of Professor Walter H. Stockmayer ’35, PhD ’40.

Established by Robert Luise (PhD ’70) in memory of his friend and mentor, pioneering polymer scientist Professor Walter H. “Stocky” Stockmayer (SB’35, PhD ’40), this endowed fund will support graduate student research.

Women+ in Chemistry (WIC+)

An endowed fund to support WIC+, which uses the lens of gender to guide its support of grad students and postdocs.

Referring to the WIC+’s “Scientist for a Day program, for female middle schoolers, graduate student and WIC+ Outreach Chair, Krysta Dummit, remarked, “I really liked being reminded of what I must have been like before I knew as much about science as I do now.”

Financial Support

All Chemical Engineering graduate students in good standing are fully funded by the department. Funding in the Department of Chemical Engineering is available in the form of fellowships, research assistantships, or teaching assistantships.  Students receive full tuition, a stipend, and individual health coverage.

Fellowships

Fellowships from MIT funds are typically limited to first-year graduate students. Funds for such awards are usually provided from gifts from alumni, from unrestricted industrial grants, or from the Provost’s Office in the form of Presidential Fellowships. Students do not usually apply for a Departmental fellowship; rather, it is an honor conferred by the Department. Students also are encouraged to apply for fellowships outside MIT, for which our students have an enviable record of success.  More information on Fellowships >>

Research Assistantships

Research assistantships are the most common support for advanced students. Research assistants (RAs) are supported from research contracts or grants, and are supervised by faculty members of the Department.

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching assistantships are provided from the general MIT teaching funds and are administered by the Department through the Graduate Officer. All graduate students are expected to TA one term within the Department.  (the details for openings and selection are announced via email each semester).

In academic year 2022-2023, stipends for assistantships are $4,075 per month for PhD students and $3,462 for MSCEP students. The Department will also cover the cost of the MIT Student Extended Insurance Plan . Outside support sometimes exceeds the internal support level. If it does not, then it is supplemented up to the full internal support level.

For more information, visit the MIT Student Financial Service resources.

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Financial Support for Graduate Students

Types of financial support.

PhD students in Physics are fully funded in each year they are in the program and remain in good standing. Financial support provides for full tuition, a monthly living stipend, and 12 months of health insurance.

Note: For more detailed information regarding the cost of attendance, including specific costs for tuition and fees, books and supplies, housing and food as well as transportation, please visit the Student Financial Services (SFS) website .

There are three sources of financial support:

• Fellowships (internal and external)
• Research Assistantships
• Teaching Assistantships

General Information:

Full-time registration for all PhD students, whether funded by fellowship or by a research or teaching assistantship, is 36 academic units. The normal course load for students with a full-time RA or TA who have not yet completed their qualifying exams is two academic subjects; students supported by a fellowship in the first year, before joining a research group, sometimes enroll in three subjects.

Students with an RA or TA are expected to spend full time on education and assigned duties, and may not engage in any other activity for compensation without the specific approval of the Department Head.

Annual and monthly stipend rates for RAs and TAs are determined each spring, and students are informed of the next year’s rates by the Academic Programs Office. While there are varying levels of stipend funding allowed by MIT, it is the policy of the Physics Department that all our students are provided the same stipend in any individual academic year.

If a student loses RA support because of termination of a research contract, the Department will provide support for one additional term (in the form of a TA) and will make every effort to help the student identify a new source of support.

The periods for graduate appointments are as follows:

• Fellows : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31; Summer: 6/1 to 8/31
• RAs : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31; Summer: 6/1 to 8/31
• TAs : Fall: 9/1 to 1/15; Spring: 1/16 to 5/31

Fellowships

The Physics Department provides internal fellowship funding to a number of the students admitted each year. The majority of these internal, donor-funded fellowships are for the first year in the program, covering twelve months; a small number of three- and five-year fellowships are also awarded. There is no application process for departmental fellowships; all admitted candidates are considered for them.

A student beginning PhD study with a fellowship has a great deal of flexibility in planning his or her graduate program and in seeking out a research group. Each fellowship recipient is responsible for finding a research group that will provide funding once the fellowship support has been used; students with multi-year fellowships are expected to have joined a research group by the beginning of the second year. Additional information on fellowships for graduate students in physics is available through the Office for Graduate Education .

Research Assistantships (RAs)

Research assistants receive full tuition, living stipend, and health insurance in exchange for conducting research on behalf of a faculty member. This faculty member also serves as the supervisor of the student’s individual research project that will become the PhD thesis.

RA work generally covers the full academic year, including summer. The amount of time spent on RA duties depends on the time needed for required course work as well as the requirements of the research group. For new graduate students taking classes and preparing for the general examination, research duties normally require 20 hours per week or less. After two to three years, research usually becomes full-time.

In addition to courses, students conducting research register each term for a research subject, providing academic credit for research work. The number of units varies from 12 to 36 according to the approximate time spent weekly on research. Research subjects include:

• Pre-Thesis Research (8.391, fall; 8.392, spring and summer): students who have not yet completed the General Examinations
• Thesis Research (8.THG); all students after passing the Oral Exam

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

Teaching assistants receive full tuition, living stipend, and health insurance in exchange for supporting the Department’s teaching program. TA responsibilities can include grading homework and exams, tutoring, conducting office hours, or, less often, teaching sections of a course. TA work requires up to 20 hours per week in addition to research or class work the student is engaged in. TAs register for 12 units of Physics Teaching (8.399), which provides academic credit for their work.

Having a TA appointment can serve a variety of purposes:

• support departmental teaching needs
• encourage students who wish to hone their teaching skills
• help alleviate funding pressures on the faculty
• facilitate a student’s transition to a different research group

TA assignment process:

Students may request nomination as a TA, or they may be assigned a term as a TA by their research supervisor.

Each of the four divisions in the department has a standard guaranteed number of TA positions per term. Research supervisors submit names of students to be considered for TAs to the Division Head, who compiles the division’s list and provides it to the Academic Programs Office.

Students on the department’s TA list are asked to select their top choices among the subjects offered in the upcoming term, and every effort is made by the TA Faculty Coordinator to match student requests when possible. Teaching faculty may also request a specific student to be assigned to their course.

While TA appointments are typically made only after the first year, very occasionally a first-year graduate student will be supported by a nine-month (fall and spring) TA appointment. Students with a first-year TA normally join a research group and are supported by an RA beginning in their first summer.

Switching Research Groups

While many students continue from their first RA to a thesis in the same group, others elect to change research groups, for a variety of reasons. An RA who wishes to change groups or research direction should feel comfortable reaching out to talk to other professors about different opportunities.

However, students are responsible for notifying their current supervisor of their intention to leave a group, and they are expected to continue working in the research group as long as it is providing funding.

To facilitate a transition between research groups, each student is guaranteed one semester of transitional funding in the form of a TA.

Students who wish to discuss their interest in changing their research group are welcome to talk with Academic Administrator Shannon Larkin or with Graduate Student Advocate Claude Canizares at any time.

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Department of Chemistry

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Types of aid: MIT Scholarships

The most common type of aid is the MIT Scholarship. If you receive one, it is a grant that does not need to be repaid.

Our scholarships are awarded based solely on financial need and come from our endowment, gifts from MIT alumni and friends, and MIT general funds. About 58% of our undergraduates receive MIT Scholarships. The median MIT Scholarship was $63,729 for 2022–2023.

All students who apply for financial aid and fill out the CSS Profile ⁠ 01 The online financial aid application from the <a href="https://cssprofile.collegeboard.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">College Board’s College Scholarship Service (CSS)</a>. It is used by many private colleges and universities, like MIT, to award financial aid.   are automatically considered for an MIT Scholarship.

If you are awarded an MIT Scholarship, we will ask you to fill out an annual Student Information Review Form  so that we can match you with the right scholarship from the right donor. Our scholarship donors often take an interest in learning about the recipients, so we may also ask you to write to your donor and thank them for their support.

First Year Grant

We provide low-income first-year students with a grant to help with the extra expenses that come with the transition to college, such as sheets and towels for your room, or a warm coat to make it through a Boston winter. The First Year Grant of $2,000 is divided equally between the fall and spring semesters and will credit to your student account along with other financial aid once you are registered for the semester. The grant is for first-year students only.

• The online financial aid application from the College Board’s College Scholarship Service (CSS) . It is used by many private colleges and universities, like MIT, to award financial aid. ⁠ back to text ↑

Summer research programs

Mit offers a variety of summer research opportunities for current undergraduate students interested in enhancing their education and developing their research skills to become competitive graduate applicants.  .

Below is a selection of programs and research opportunities geared toward undergraduate students. For non-MIT programs, please visit  PathwaysToScience.org  for a searchable database of 650+ summer research programs in all STEM disciplines.

Broad Institute Summer Research Program (BSRP)

The Broad Summer Research Program (BSRP), funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute, is a national program designed for undergraduate students who have a commitment to research and an interest in genomics.  The program has a strong record of success in helping students to nurture their passion for research and succeed in graduate school and scientific careers.

Please visit the  Broad Summer Research Program  website for further details.

CCHF Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Program (CSURP)

The Center for Selective C-H Functionalization (CCHF) Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Program (CSURP) provides an opportunity for undergraduate students with a strong interest in the chemical sciences to conduct supervised research with a faculty mentor, graduate students, and postdocs within the Center’s extensive network.

Please visit the CSURP website for further details.

Center for Energy Efficient Electronics Science Summer Research Program (E 3 S REU)

E 3 S REU is a 9-week summer residential program that offers rising juniors or seniors in Bachelor of Science or Engineering programs the opportunity to conduct research in the laboratories of E 3 S faculty. Participants of this competitive merit-based program undertake cutting edge electrical engineering, material science, physics and chemistry research projects.

Please visit the  E 3 S REU  website for further details.

Materials Science and Engineering Center (MSREC)

The Materials Science and Engineering Center collaborates with the Materials Processing Center to offer a nine-week summer research internship program. The objective of the program is to provide undergraduates with an opportunity to immerse themselves in exciting materials research as part of a team of graduate students and postdoctoral associates under the leadership of MSREC faculty.

Please visit the  MSREC  website for further details.

Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Summer Institute in Biomedical Optics

The HST Summer Institute offers a unique opportunity for outstanding undergraduate college students considering a career in biomedical engineering and medical science. This highly competitive program offers a hands-on research experience in a scientific community internationally recognized for its leadership and commitment to excellence.

Please visit the  HST Summer Institute  website for further details.

Lincoln Labs Summer Research Program

Each summer, the Laboratory offers undergraduate and graduate students the unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a leading-edge research environment. Program participants contribute to projects and gain experience that complements their courses of study. In recent summers, we’ve hired more than 200 students representing top universities.

Please visit the  Lincoln Labs Summer Research Program  website for further details.

MIT Summer Research Program-Bio (MSRP-Bio)

10-week research-intensive summer training program to advanced non-MIT sophomore and junior science majors who have an interest in a research career.

Please visit the  MSRP Bio  website for further details.

MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) – General

This nine-week, fully funded summer program brings together a talented pool of underrepresented minorities and underserved students to engage in on-campus research led by dedicated MIT faculty members, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students. It is an invaluable experience for any student considering further graduate education.

Please visit the  MIT Summer Research Program  website for further details.

MIT-Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) Summer Student Fellow Program

A research project is at the heart of the Summer Student Fellowship program. All Fellows are expected to work on a project selected in collaboration with their sponsor(s) that will provide meaningful results in one summer’s work. Project topics span the vast spectrum of research in ocean sciences and engineering conducted in WHOI’s science departments and the Woods Hole Field Station of the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Please visit the  MIT-WHOI Summer Student Fellow Program  website for further details.

Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institutes (PIKSI)

Philosophy in an Inclusive Key Summer Institutes are designed to encourage undergraduates from underrepresented groups to consider future study of philosophy. Undergraduates and recent graduates from underrepresented groups such as women, African Americans, Chicano/as and Latino/as, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Paci c Islanders, LGBTs, economically disadvantaged communities, and people with disabilities are urged to apply.

Please visit the PIKSI website for further details.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates at the MIT Haystack Observatory

Haystack Observatory invites undergraduate science, engineering, and computer science students to apply for summer research positions. Support is provided by the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. Women, minorities, and students with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Please visit the  REU at the MIT Haystack Observatory  website for further details.

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Fostering research, careers, and community in materials science

Gabrielle Wood, a junior at Howard University majoring in chemical engineering, is on a mission to improve the sustainability and life cycles of natural resources and materials. Her work in the Materials Initiative for Comprehensive Research Opportunity (MICRO) program has given her hands-on experience with many different aspects of research, including MATLAB programming, experimental design, data analysis, figure-making, and scientific writing.

Wood is also one of 10 undergraduates from 10 universities around the United States to participate in the first MICRO Summit earlier this year. The internship program, developed by the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), first launched in fall 2021. Now in its third year, the program continues to grow, providing even more opportunities for non-MIT undergraduate students — including the MICRO Summit and the program’s expansion to include Northwestern University.

“I think one of the most valuable aspects of the MICRO program is the ability to do research long term with an experienced professor in materials science and engineering,” says Wood. “My school has limited opportunities for undergraduate research in sustainable polymers, so the MICRO program allowed me to gain valuable experience in this field, which I would not otherwise have.”

Like Wood, Griheydi Garcia, a senior chemistry major at Manhattan College, values the exposure to materials science, especially since she is not able to learn as much about it at her home institution.

“I learned a lot about crystallography and defects in materials through the MICRO curriculum, especially through videos,” says Garcia. “The research itself is very valuable, as well, because we get to apply what we’ve learned through the videos in the research we do remotely.”

Expanding research opportunities

From the beginning, the MICRO program was designed as a fully remote, rigorous education and mentoring program targeted toward students from underserved backgrounds interested in pursuing graduate school in materials science or related fields. Interns are matched with faculty to work on their specific research interests.

Jessica Sandland ’99, PhD ’05, principal lecturer in DMSE and co-founder of MICRO, says that research projects for the interns are designed to be work that they can do remotely, such as developing a machine-learning algorithm or a data analysis approach.

“It’s important to note that it’s not just about what the program and faculty are bringing to the student interns,” says Sandland, a member of the MIT Digital Learning Lab , a joint program between MIT Open Learning and the Institute’s academic departments. “The students are doing real research and work, and creating things of real value. It’s very much an exchange.”

Cécile Chazot PhD ’22, now an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, had helped to establish MICRO at MIT from the very beginning. Once at Northwestern, she quickly realized that expanding MICRO to Northwestern would offer even more research opportunities to interns than by relying on MIT alone — leveraging the university’s strong materials science and engineering department, as well as offering resources for biomaterials research through Northwestern’s medical school. The program received funding from 3M and officially launched at Northwestern in fall 2023. Approximately half of the MICRO interns are now in the program with MIT and half are with Northwestern. Wood and Garcia both participate in the program via Northwestern.

“By expanding to another school, we’ve been able to have interns work with a much broader range of research projects,” says Chazot. “It has become easier for us to place students with faculty and research that match their interests.”

Building community

The MICRO program received a Higher Education Innovation grant from the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab , part of MIT Open Learning, to develop an in-person summit. In January 2024, interns visited MIT for three days of presentations, workshops, and campus tours — including a tour of the MIT.nano building — as well as various community-building activities.

“A big part of MICRO is the community,” says Chazot. “A highlight of the summit was just seeing the students come together.”

The summit also included panel discussions that allowed interns to gain insights and advice from graduate students and professionals. The graduate panel discussion included MIT graduate students Sam Figueroa (mechanical engineering), Isabella Caruso (DMSE), and Eliana Feygin (DMSE). The career panel was led by Chazot and included Jatin Patil PhD ’23, head of product at SiTration; Maureen Reitman ’90, ScD ’93, group vice president and principal engineer at Exponent; Lucas Caretta PhD ’19, assistant professor of engineering at Brown University; Raquel D’Oyen ’90, who holds a PhD from Northwestern University and is a senior engineer at Raytheon; and Ashley Kaiser MS ’19, PhD ’21, senior process engineer at 6K.

Students also had an opportunity to share their work with each other through research presentations. Their presentations covered a wide range of topics, including: developing a computer program to calculate solubility parameters for polymers used in textile manufacturing; performing a life-cycle analysis of a photonic chip and evaluating its environmental impact in comparison to a standard silicon microchip; and applying machine learning algorithms to scanning transmission electron microscopy images of CrSBr, a two-dimensional magnetic material. 

“The summit was wonderful and the best academic experience I have had as a first-year college student,” says MICRO intern Gabriella La Cour, who is pursuing a major in chemistry and dual degree biomedical engineering at Spelman College and participates in MICRO through MIT. “I got to meet so many students who were all in grades above me … and I learned a little about how to navigate college as an upperclassman.” 

“I actually have an extremely close friendship with one of the students, and we keep in touch regularly,” adds La Cour. “Professor Chazot gave valuable advice about applications and recommendation letters that will be useful when I apply to REUs [Research Experiences for Undergraduates] and graduate schools.”

Looking to the future, MICRO organizers hope to continue to grow the program’s reach.

“We would love to see other schools taking on this model,” says Sandland. “There are a lot of opportunities out there. The more departments, research groups, and mentors that get involved with this program, the more impact it can have.”

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Two from MIT awarded 2024 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

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MIT graduate student Riyam Al Msari and alumna Francisca Vasconcelos ’20 are among the 30 recipients of this year’s Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans. In addition, two Soros winners will begin PhD studies at MIT in the fall: Zijian (William) Niu in computational and systems biology and Russell Legate-Yang in economics.

The P.D. Soros Fellowships for New Americans program recognizes the potential of immigrants to make significant contributions to U.S. society, culture, and academia by providing $90,000 in graduate school financial support over two years.

Riyam Al Msari

Riyam Al Msari, born in Baghdad, Iraq, faced a turbulent childhood shaped by the 2003 war. At age 8, her life took a traumatic turn when her home was bombed in 2006, leading to her family's displacement to Iraqi Kurdistan. Despite experiencing educational and ethnic discriminatory challenges, Al Msari remained undeterred, wholeheartedly embracing her education.

Soon after her father immigrated to the United States to seek political asylum in 2016, Al Msari’s mother was diagnosed with head and neck cancer, leaving Al Msari, at just 18, as her mother’s primary caregiver. Despite her mother’s survival, Al Msari witnessed the limitations and collateral damage caused by standardized cancer therapies, which left her mother in a compromised state. This realization invigorated her determination to pioneer translational cancer-targeted therapies.

In 2018, when Al Msari was 20, she came to the United States and reunited with her father and the rest of her family, who arrived later with significant help from then-senator Kamala Harris’s office. Despite her Iraqi university credits not transferring, Al Msari persevered and continued her education at Houston Community College as a Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) scholar, and then graduated magna cum laude as a Regents Scholar from the University of California at San Diego’s bioengineering program, where she focused on lymphatic-preserving neoadjuvant immunotherapies for head and neck cancers.

As a PhD student in the MIT Department of Biological Engineering, Al Masri conducts research in the Irvine and Wittrup labs to employ engineering strategies for localized immune targeting of cancers. She aspires to establish a startup that bridges preclinical and clinical oncology research, specializing in the development of innovative protein and biomaterial-based translational cancer immunotherapies.

Francisca Vasconcelos ’20

In the early 1990s, Francisca Vasconcelos’s parents emigrated from Portugal to the United States in pursuit of world-class scientific research opportunities. Vasconcelos was born in Boston while her parents were PhD students at MIT and Harvard University. When she was 5, her family relocated to San Diego, when her parents began working at the University of California at San Diego.

Vasconcelos graduated from MIT in 2020 with a BS in electrical engineering, computer science, and physics. As an undergraduate, she performed substantial research involving machine learning and data analysis for quantum computers in the MIT Engineering Quantum Systems Group, under the guidance of Professor William Oliver. Drawing upon her teaching and research experience at MIT, Vasconcelos became the founding academic director of The Coding School nonprofit’s Qubit x Qubit initiative, where she taught thousands of students from different backgrounds about the fundamentals of quantum computation.

In 2020, Vasconcelos was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where she pursued an MSc in statistical sciences and an MSt in philosophy of physics. At Oxford, she performed substantial research on uncertainty quantification of machine learning models for medical imaging in the OxCSML group. She also played for Oxford’s Women’s Blues Football team. 

Now a computer science PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at the University of California at Berkeley, Vasconcelos is a member of both the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab and CS Theory Group. Her research interests lie at the intersection of quantum computation and machine learning. She is especially interested in developing efficient classical algorithms to learn about quantum systems, as well as quantum algorithms to improve simulations of quantum processes. In doing so, she hopes to find meaningful ways in which quantum computers can outperform classical computers.

The P.D. Soros Fellowship attracts more than 1,800 applicants annually. MIT students interested in applying may contact Kim Benard, associate dean of distinguished fellowships in Career Advising and Professional Development.

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Class of 2024: Top veterinary graduate Alexandra Reddy finds unexpected path to pathology studies

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Name: Alexandra Reddy 

College: Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine

Degree: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine

Hometown: Halifax, Virginia

Plans after graduation: Reddy will be staying at the veterinary college for a five-year pathology residency and pursuing a Ph.D. She hopes to work in academia beyond that.

Why I’m a Hokie: “I was born and raised in Virginia. Virginia will always have my heart. So in that sense, Virginia Tech was where I wanted to come for veterinary school. But another thing that really attracted me about Virginia Tech, specifically, is our public corporate track because I knew I had nontraditional interests. And so it was important to me to go to a school that would support that.”

Most difficult part of veterinary studies: “I am a very big family person and an academic person. So for me, the most challenging thing was making sure that I didn't compromise either of those values that are important to me. And thankfully, with that being said, I'm blessed with the most incredible family and friends, and my boyfriend. I've had incredible support from everyone that helped me achieve that balance.

The journey to veterinary college

Sometimes the back door leads to the top of the class.

“I did not grow up wanting to be a veterinarian,” Reddy said. “I was not the classic student that knew since I was in existence that I wanted to be a veterinarian.”

Reddy is the valedictorian for the Class of 2024 of the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and the recipient of the Richard B. Talbot Award scholarship, given each year to the veterinary college graduate with the highest GPA.

Reddy found her way to the veterinary college through science coursework at Galileo Magnet High School in Danville and undergraduate studies in zoology and pre-medicine at Liberty University in Lynchburg.

“During my first year through my environmental science classes, I realized I love learning about these issues because I want to help the animals that they impact, not because I love soil biology or water chemistry or things like that,” Reddy said. 

Reddy said her prior frame of reference for veterinary medicine had been the clinics in her native Southside Virginia that treated pets or livestock. 

“I didn't see myself in general practice,” Reddy said. “While at Liberty University, I became involved in scientific research and fell in love with it. So I googled 'veterinary scientist' one day and stumbled upon a veterinary research program at Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine. I was accepted and matched into a veterinary pathology laboratory. Through this program, I realized the breadth of veterinarians, specifically veterinary pathologists, and I fell in love. Then I decided to apply to veterinary school.”

Pathology in practice

Reddy finished her fourth-year externships with a pathology rotation at the Bronx Zoo and New York Aquarium this spring. She served previous pathology rotations at the Zoological Pathology Program at the Brookfield Zoo Chicago, Stanford University, and Johns Hopkins University.

She also deeply enjoyed caring for the animals at SeaQuest Lynchburg , an aquarium and zoo in Lynchburg’s River Ridge Mall that inspired her during her undergraduate studies.

“She has excelled in my exotic elective courses and displayed the best qualities of our veterinary students in an externship at SeaQuest Aquarium,” said Stephen A. Smith, professor of aquatic medicine, fish health, wildlife and exotic animal medicine. “Alex is one of those special students who you realize is just starting to reach her potential in the veterinary profession.” 

"High standards for myself"

Kevin Lahmers, clinical professor of anatomic pathology, said Reddy possesses qualities that make her unique even among her class of exceptionally intelligent peers. 

“In addition to her book smarts, Alex is personable and willing to work toward the goals she sets,” Lahmers said. “She has enthusiastically pursued her chosen area of specialization and has already demonstrated skills and knowledge that frequently take several years to acquire, if at all.“

Reddy may have come in the back door to her veterinary pathology interests, but it was still a steep climb up the stairs to achieve the top GPA, which, again, was not one of her initial goals.

“That was not something that I set out to achieve coming into veterinary school,” Reddy said. “I've always had high standards for myself. And I always want to know that I gave my best. Coming into veterinary school, I knew that it was going to be the most challenging academic program I would ever undertake. And as long as I gave my best, and learned to take care of my patients, for myself that's what matters.”

Andrew Mann

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Department of Chemistry recognizes 116 students with over $400,000 in scholarships at 2024 Awards Ceremony.

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The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry held its annual Student Awards Ceremony on Friday, April 21, 2023, celebrating more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students. Because of generous donations from many benefactors, the Department of Chemistry awarded $417,000 in student support and research scholarships. Individual recipients were granted between $250 and $10,000 in scholarship awards. A full listing of award winners can be found here .

Irving Shain Chair of Chemistry Clark Landis noted that these awards were made possible by donations to the Department of Chemistry. “Support for these awards does not come from state taxes – these awards exist because friends of the Department make donations,” explained Landis. “These awards enable students to know that their excellence is valued and that they are on the right track.”

Fourteen undergraduate students were awarded spring and summer scholarships, primarily to support research. Twenty-seven undergraduate students received scholarships for support during the academic year. Undergraduate research at the Department of Chemistry is a growing program and more than 100 undergraduate chemistry students participate in research each year. 

Additional undergraduate awards granted include the Alpha Chi Sigma Alumni Endowed Scholarship intended to support undergraduate students in chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering at the UW–Madison, American Chemical Society local and national awards, The Lindsey T. Plank and Richard H. Putze Memorial Scholarship for students involved in chemical demonstrations, and the Stephen D. Morton Research Award for mentorship. At the campus level, seven undergraduate chemistry students earned Hilldale Undergraduate/Faculty Research Fellowships and six undergraduate chemistry students earned Sophomore Research Fellowships with one student receiving an honorable mention. 

Twenty-two Department of Chemistry graduate students were awarded fellowships or scholarships for student support or research and seven graduate students earned Graduate Research Excellence Awards funded by the generous support of Gary B. and Janice L. Aspelin and Charles P. and Martha L. Casey. 

The 13 fall 2022 Pei Wang Fellowship recipients were also recognized at the spring event, along with the Charles P. and Martha L. Casey Award for Inorganic Recruits and awardees of the Belle Crowe Fellowship. 

The Graduate Student Faculty Liaison Committee (GSFLC) named the winners of their GSFLC Mentor Award. This award was given to six graduate students, two post-doctoral researchers, and three faculty/staff members. Ryan McDonnell, career development chair for the GSFLC identified the need to recognize outstanding mentorship. “Research is best done as a team. It is important to recognize the leaders on those teams who drive the excellent research we do here.”

The overall feeling at the Awards Ceremony was one of celebration. Prof. Helen Blackwell summed up the atmosphere. “The mood is joyous; the awards are numerous; the pride is obvious,” Blackwell commented. ”Recognizing the amazing contributions our students/postdocs/staff make to research, teaching, and mentoring is a fantastic way to end each spring term.”

The spring awards are coordinated by the Undergraduate Fellowships and Scholarships Committee which includes Pam Doolittle (chair), Katie McCullough, Mark Wendt, and JR Schmidt (chair of the undergraduate program) with support from reviews Jeff Bartz, Stephen Block, Thomas Brunold, Rie Takagi Fredrickson, Julia Saloni, Zoe Todd, Dylan Walsh, and Tina Wang.  The graduate awards are coordinated by the Graduate Program Oversight Committee which includes Helen Blackwell (associate chair of the graduate program), John Berry, Judith Burstyn, Etienne Garand, Robert Hamers, Song Jin, Sam Pazicni, Dan Weix, Francisca Jofre, and Erin Grunewald. Project and event support was provided by Rebecca Carlson, Kayla Driscoll, Patrick Egan, Erin Hale, Jeanne Hamers, Kimberly Hazen, Maddy Henkel, Andrew Hinz, Kathryn Koenen, Becca Moy, Laura Reade, Kayla Riese, Emma Weimerskirch, and Rosemary Wonnell.

Fostering research, careers, and community in materials science

Gabrielle Wood, a junior at Howard University majoring in chemical engineering, is on a mission to improve the sustainability and life cycles of natural resources and materials. Her work in the Materials Initiative for Comprehensive Research Opportunity (MICRO) program has given her hands-on experience with many different aspects of research, including MATLAB programming, experimental design, data analysis, figure-making, and scientific writing.

Wood is also one of 10 undergraduates from 10 universities around the United States to participate in the first MICRO Summit earlier this year. The internship program, developed by the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE), first launched in fall 2021. Now in its third year, the program continues to grow, providing even more opportunities for non-MIT undergraduate students — including the MICRO Summit and the program’s expansion to include Northwestern University.

“I think one of the most valuable aspects of the MICRO program is the ability to do research long term with an experienced professor in materials science and engineering,” says Wood. “My school has limited opportunities for undergraduate research in sustainable polymers, so the MICRO program allowed me to gain valuable experience in this field, which I would not otherwise have.”

Like Wood, Griheydi Garcia, a senior chemistry major at Manhattan College, values the exposure to materials science, especially since she is not able to learn as much about it at her home institution.

“I learned a lot about crystallography and defects in materials through the MICRO curriculum, especially through videos,” says Garcia. “The research itself is very valuable, as well, because we get to apply what we’ve learned through the videos in the research we do remotely.” Expanding research opportunities

From the beginning, the MICRO program was designed as a fully remote, rigorous education and mentoring program targeted toward students from underserved backgrounds interested in pursuing graduate school in materials science or related fields. Interns are matched with faculty to work on their specific research interests.

Jessica Sandland ’99, PhD ’05, principal lecturer in DMSE and co-founder of MICRO, says that research projects for the interns are designed to be work that they can do remotely, such as developing a machine-learning algorithm or a data analysis approach.

“It’s important to note that it’s not just about what the program and faculty are bringing to the student interns,” says Sandland, a member of the MIT Digital Learning Lab , a joint program between MIT Open Learning and the Institute’s academic departments. “The students are doing real research and work, and creating things of real value. It’s very much an exchange.” Cécile Chazot PhD ’22, now an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at Northwestern University, had helped to establish MICRO at MIT from the very beginning. Once at Northwestern, she quickly realized that expanding MICRO to Northwestern would offer even more research opportunities to interns than by relying on MIT alone — leveraging the university’s strong materials science and engineering department, as well as offering resources for biomaterials research through Northwestern’s medical school. The program received funding from 3M and officially launched at Northwestern in fall 2023. Approximately half of the MICRO interns are now in the program with MIT and half are with Northwestern. Wood and Garcia both participate in the program via Northwestern. “By expanding to another school, we’ve been able to have interns work with a much broader range of research projects,” says Chazot. “It has become easier for us to place students with faculty and research that match their interests.”

Building community

The MICRO program received a Higher Education Innovation grant from the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab , part of MIT Open Learning, to develop an in-person summit. In January 2024, interns visited MIT for three days of presentations, workshops, and campus tours — including a tour of the MIT.nano building — as well as various community-building activities.

“A big part of MICRO is the community,” says Chazot. “A highlight of the summit was just seeing the students come together.”

The summit also included panel discussions that allowed interns to gain insights and advice from graduate students and professionals. The graduate panel discussion included MIT graduate students Sam Figueroa (mechanical engineering), Isabella Caruso (DMSE), and Eliana Feygin (DMSE). The career panel was led by Chazot and included Jatin Patil PhD ’23, head of product at SiTration; Maureen Reitman ’90, ScD ’93, group vice president and principal engineer at Exponent; Lucas Caretta PhD ’19, assistant professor of engineering at Brown University; Raquel D’Oyen ’90, who holds a PhD from Northwestern University and is a senior engineer at Raytheon; and Ashley Kaiser MS ’19, PhD ’21, senior process engineer at 6K.

Students also had an opportunity to share their work with each other through research presentations. Their presentations covered a wide range of topics, including: developing a computer program to calculate solubility parameters for polymers used in textile manufacturing; performing a life-cycle analysis of a photonic chip and evaluating its environmental impact in comparison to a standard silicon microchip; and applying machine learning algorithms to scanning transmission electron microscopy images of CrSBr, a two-dimensional magnetic material. 

“The summit was wonderful and the best academic experience I have had as a first-year college student,” says MICRO intern Gabriella La Cour, who is pursuing a major in chemistry and dual degree biomedical engineering at Spelman College and participates in MICRO through MIT. “I got to meet so many students who were all in grades above me … and I learned a little about how to navigate college as an upperclassman.” 

“I actually have an extremely close friendship with one of the students, and we keep in touch regularly,” adds La Cour. “Professor Chazot gave valuable advice about applications and recommendation letters that will be useful when I apply to REUs [Research Experiences for Undergraduates] and graduate schools.”

Looking to the future, MICRO organizers hope to continue to grow the program’s reach.

“We would love to see other schools taking on this model,” says Sandland. “There are a lot of opportunities out there. The more departments, research groups, and mentors that get involved with this program, the more impact it can have.”

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