Nine current students and recent alums of the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) received prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships, which recognize outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Across the university, 22 current students and recent alums were among the 2024 fellowship winners announced by the NSF.
Two recently graduated from the Department of Mathematics:
- Marcus Benyamin (B.S. ’17, mathematics; B.S. ’17, chemical engineering)
- Siri Neerchal (B.S. ’21, mathematics; B.S. ’21, history)
Benyamin is a chemical engineering Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin and Neerchal is a Ph.D. student in sociology and social policy at Harvard University.
NSF fellows receive three years of support, including a $37,000 annual stipend, a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, and access to opportunities for professional development.
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions.
Since 1952, NSF has funded more than 60,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants. At least 42 fellows have gone on to become Nobel laureates and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences.
