2026 Undergraduate Research Fellowships

Thanks to our generous donors, 32 undergraduate students will have the opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research in our faculty labs as research fellows.

The 2026 Chemistry & Biochemistry Undergraduate Research Fellowships were presented to our students at our annual Departmental Awards Ceremony on June 9. 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 on 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.

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ARTHUR FURST UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Giacomo Berti (Alexandrova group)

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CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY ALUMNI UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Sponsored by the Bruman and Boschan families, and other alumni donors.

Cameron Berg (Athavale group) and Leilani Krantz (Kwon group)

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CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Parker Powers (Barber group)

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DANIEL E. ATKINSON AND CHARLES A. WEST UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
This award honors Professors Daniel Atkinson and Charles West, the two UCLA chemistry faculty who were largely responsible for the development of biochemistry within the department. This award honors the significant contributions of both men to research, education, and the strength of the UCLA academic community.

Chloe Schnell (Lawson group) and Jonathan Shirley (Koehler group)

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DANIEL KIVELSON UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
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.

Oliver Burkes (Fay group) and Maggie De Leon (Bouchard group). Not pictured: Kathryn McGovern (Caram group).

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DR. RAVI AND APARNA BIKKINA FAMILY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These scholarships were established in 2017 by Ravi ’94 and Aparna Bikkina to support scholarships for chemistry and biochemistry students.

Ambika Chhikara (Athavale group) and Dimeera Kadiwala (Torres group)

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EVELYN PAN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Established by Walter and Shirley Wang, these fellowships honor Shirley’s mother, Evelyn Pan

Ilinca Flacau (Lindert group) and Tyler Hsu (Nava group)

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GOLD FAMILY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Thanks to the continued generosity of the Dr. Marvin and Sophye Gold Family Foundation of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation.

Piper Singleton (Petrovic group)

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JAMES BLAINE RAMSEY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
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.

Karch Borsa (Nava group), Angeles Mccullough (Harran group), and Linh Ninh (Andrews group)

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PAUL BOYER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
These fellowships were established in 2018 by Prof. Richard Cross (Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York) to honor his former postdoctoral mentor, Nobel Laureate Professor Paul D. Boyer.

Anton Baranov (Clarke group), Zhang Bryan (Kappel group), Danny Chen (Chen group), Jaiden Ha (Kappel group)

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TGD UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Alyssa Hasson (Andrews group) and Jax Milasincic (Andrews group)

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UCLA CHEMISTRY & BIOCHEMISTRY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Claire Chang (Nava group), Pingyao Liu (Petrovic group), Amaar Siddiqui (Garg group), Skylar Whitley (Caram group), and Mario-Steven Estrada (Gutierrez group)

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WEILLER FAMILY UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
Bruce and Shari Weiller and their family endowed this scholarship to support outstanding undergraduate students majoring in chemistry.

Ethan Huntington (Kaner group) and Jonathan Ibarra (Spokoyny group)

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WHITCOME UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP
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.

Luna Liang (Tinoco group) and Tony Nguyen (Tinoco group)

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The department is extremely grateful to our generous donors and alumni whose support makes these many fellowship and award programs possible.

To learn how to contribute to our student departmental award funds or to establish a new named award or fellowship, please contact the Chair’s Office, cbchair@ucla.edu, (310) 825-3958. Your gift of any size will directly impact one of our world-class students and aspiring scientists!

If you find any errors in this article, please email Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.