8 students awarded DOE Graduate Student Research Fellowships

Eight students have received the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research Fellowships to conduct their research at Fermilab. DOE awarded these fellowships to 78 students from U.S. universities. The Fermilab recipients are:



Robert Chirco

Robert Chirco

Robert Chirco, Illinois Institute of Technology
Neutrino flux prediction, validation and improvement for NOvA and DUNE
Mentor: Katsuya Yonehara



Austin Dick

Austin Dick

Austin Dick, Northern Illinois University
Optical stochastic cooling
Mentor: Jonathan Jarvis



Derek Doyle

Derek Doyle

Derek Doyle, Colorado State University
High-energy-physics computing and neutrino cross-sections
Mentor: Andrew John Norman



Aurora Ireland

Aurora Ireland

Aurora Ireland, University of Chicago
New directions in electroweak symmetry breaking
Mentor: Marcela Carena



Edgar Marrufo Villalpando

Edgar Marrufo Villalpando

Edgar Marrufo Villalpando, University of Chicago
Dark matter in cosmological context: Investigating dark matter with skipper CCDs and stellar streams
Mentors: Juan Estrada and Alex Drlica-Wagner



Logan Rice

Logan Rice

Logan Rice, University of Pittsburgh
ICARUS Cosmic Ray Tagger system commissioning and data analysis
Mentor: Minerba Betancourt


Lauren Street

Lauren Street

Lauren Street, University of Cincinnati
Inferring ultralight axion abundances from galactic data with deep learning
Mentor: Nick Gnedin


Erin Yandel

Erin Yandel

Erin Yandel, University of California-Santa Barbara
Light system and CRT commissioning for the Short-Baseline Near Detector
Mentor: Ornella Palamara

“DOE has long been where the nation turns for scientific solutions to complex challenges, and now more than ever we need to invest in a diverse, talented pipeline of scientists, engineers and entrepreneurs who can continue this legacy of excellence,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “I’m thrilled that these outstanding students will help us tackle mission-critical research at our labs, and I can’t wait to see what their futures hold.”

The goal of the SCGSR program is to prepare U.S. graduate students for STEM careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission by providing graduate thesis research opportunities through extended residency at DOE national laboratories.

Students receive supplemental awards to pursue part of their graduate thesis research at a DOE laboratory or facility in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. This opportunity is expected to advance the student’s doctoral thesis while providing access to the expertise, resources and capabilities available at the DOE laboratory or facility.

The award period for the proposed research project at the DOE laboratory or facility may range from three to 12 consecutive months.

Fermilab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov.