Note: This story was updated on June 17, 2025 after the National Science Foundation announced additional awards in the 2025 Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) selected 19 graduate and 8 undergraduate UW–Madison students as 2025 recipients of its prestigious Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP).
The NSF announced 1,000 GRFP awards April 8 and 500 additional awards in June. In addition to the 27 award recipients, 41 UW–Madison students were included in the honorable mentions category.
The NSF GRFP is a highly valued, competitive fellowship that supports outstanding graduate research across the United States. UW–Madison strongly encourages senior undergraduates and early-career graduate students to apply to the GRFP and provides support for applicants, including Funding Forward events and the Writing Center.
The 2025 graduate student awardees and their proposed areas of study are:
- Ali Al-Tamimi, Computationally Intensive Research
- Tayt Armitage, Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Ann Bigelow, Applied Mathematics
- Allison Fisher, Environmental Biology
- Madison Fortier, Archaeology
- Emeline Hanna, Biomedical Engineering
- Shawn Im, Machine Learning
- Katie Lund, Genetics
- Eleanor McFarlan, Hydrology
- Alissia Milani, Environmental and/or Ecological Engineering
- William Minnette, Nuclear Engineering
- Erin Motherway, Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Talia O’Shea, Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Seth Ockerman, Computer Systems
- Smeet Patel, Nuclear Engineering
- Jalianet Román Matías, Chemistry of Materials
- Georgia Sands, Chemical Structure, Dynamics, and Mechanism
- Cara Scalpone, Atmospheric Chemistry
- Trey Standiford, Biological Systems Engineering
The 2025 undergraduate student awardees and their proposed areas of study are:
- Ava Clark, Microbial Biology
- Adam Distler, Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Zirui Fu, Cell Biology
- Clara Haeffner, Cognitive Psychology
- Jenna Karcheski, Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Joseph Munoz, Ecology
- Mason Polencheck, Ecology
- Patrick Walsh, Condensed Matter Physics