Thanks to our generous donors, 38 undergraduate students will conduct research in our faculty labs this year as summer research fellows.
The 2023 Chemistry & Biochemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships were presented to our students at our annual departmental awards ceremony on May 31, 2023. Congratulations to all the recipients listed below!
One of the unique benefits of attending UCLA as an undergraduate is the opportunity to participate in meaningful research guided by eminent faculty. This is also an essential step along the path to graduate school and beyond. However, research opportunities are often limited by the availability of funds to support the hourly cost of an undergraduate intern. These fellowships make it possible for budding scientists to gain invaluable research experience and pursue their dreams.
We are incredibly grateful to our donors whose generous gifts make these fellowships possible.
ALUMNI UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
Sponsored by the Bruman and Boschan families, and other alumni donors.
Celeste Medina-Seymoure (C. Clarke group), and Leo Morag (Diaconescu group). Not pictured: Ashley Mendez (Sletten group)
ARTHUR FURST SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
This annual award honors chemistry or biochemistry majors who have done outstanding laboratory research projects.
Linnea Shu (Harran group), and Varun Gupta (Garcia Garibay group).
BOYER SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships were established in 2018 by Prof. Richard Cross (Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York) to honor of his former postdoctoral mentor Nobel Laureate Professor Paul D. Boyer.
Neha Ajjampore (Feigon group), Enrico Arambulo (Koehler group), Sabrina Galvan (Feigon group), Coco Li (Feigon group), Junyang Michael Sun (Schmitt group), and Michael Rebelo (Spokoyny group).
DANIEL KIVELSON UNDERGRADUATE SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
The family of UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry professor Dr. Daniel Kivelson (1929-2003) established these fellowships in his honor so that his legacy would live on and help educate young scientists.
John Cao (Caram group), Rachel Ma (P. Weiss group), Lauren Vuong (P. Weiss group), and Angel Hernandez (Tolbert group).
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships were established in 2019 with funds provided by the UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics to support undergraduate students conducting summer research at UCLA.
Zach Danner (Clubb group). Not pictured: Megan Chen (Clubb group).
DR. RAVI AND APARNA BIKKINA FAMILY SCHOLARSHIPS
These scholarships were established in 2017 by Ravi ’94 and Aparna Bikkina to support scholarships for chemistry and biochemistry students.
Aditya Desai (Kwon group), Sangeeta Kelkar (Sletten group), and Maya Vasisht (Diaconescu group).
LORRAINE H. AND MASUO TOJI SUMMER RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships were established in 2019 thanks to a $1 million gift from the estate of Lorraine and Masuo Toji.
Max Floridia (P. Weiss group), Jonathan Gaffney (Sletten group), Ella Ghazinouri (Sletten group), and Mabel Song (Clubb group).
Not pictured: Tania Peymany (Nava group).
RAMSEY SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS
This fellowship is named in honor of Professor Emeritus James Blaine Ramsey (1892-1965) and is awarded to outstanding undergraduate students in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
Zhouxi (Michelle) Chen (Kwon group), Tim Duong ( Neuhauser group),
Brock Hosier (Maynard group), and Ashley Michel (Harran group).
RAYMOND AND DOROTHY WILSON SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These fellowships were established by alumnus Raymond A. Wilson (’43) and his wife Dorothy as a tribute to the UCLA chemistry professors who, more than seventy years ago, had such a profound impact on Raymond when he was a bright young chemistry student.
Miguel Jr Medina Lopez (Nava group), and Anne Nguyen (Nava group).
SUSAN ELIZABETH BAUMGARTEN SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Susan Baumgarten (B.S.’ 73, M.S.’ 76, M.B.A. ’79) established this fellowship in 2019 to support chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate students.
Kasey Parks (Schmitt group). Not pictured: Isabella Machado (Liu group)
ROBERT E. BISKOWSKI CHEMISTRY SUMMER FELLOWSHIPS
These fellowships were established in 2019 by the Estate of Geraldine Biskowski.
Giselle Brown (Doyle group), and Daniel Torres Pomares (Spokoyny group).
WEILLER FAMILY RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP
Bruce and Shari Weiller and their family endowed this scholarship to support outstanding undergraduate students majoring in chemistry.
Celeste Elkort (Kaner group).
WHITCOME SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
This fellowship honors the late Dr. Philip Whitcome who received his Ph.D. in 1974 from UCLA and went on to a successful career in the biotechnology industry.
Kyle Anderson (C. Clarke group), and Zoe Yeh (Chanfreau group).
The Department is extremely grateful to our generous donors and alumni whose support makes these many fellowship programs possible.
To contribute to our student departmental award funds or to establish a new named award or fellowship, please contact the Chair’s office, chair@chem.ucla.edu, (310) 825-3958. Your gift of any size will directly impact one of our world-class students and aspiring scientists!
Photo montages by Héctor Osorio.
Contact: Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penny@chem.ucla.edu.
