Welcoming new computational science graduate fellows

June 13, 2024 – A record 40 students on the path to achieving doctorates in fields that emphasize the use of computing and mathematics are now being welcomed into the U.S.  Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) program. 

The 2024-2025 incoming fellows will attend 24 U.S. universities throughout the nation as they learn to apply high-performance computing (HPC) to research in disciplines including quantum computing, particle physics, computational chemistry, bioinformatics, climate and atmospheric sciences, and applied mathematics. New class members earned undergraduate degrees from 36 institutions, more than one-third of which are new to the DOE CSGF.

The program, established in 1991 and funded by the DOE Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), trains top leaders in computational science. As of September 1, 2024, the DOE CSGF will have onboarded more than 675 students across 34 cohorts representing a total of 84 Ph.D. institutions. More than 500 program alumni work in an expanding number of fields that support computing’s capacity to address problems important to the nation’s future.

“We would like to extend a warm welcome to the new class in this unique program, which provides outstanding opportunities to students pursuing doctoral degrees in fields that use high-performance computing to solve complex science and engineering problems. Development in this area is critical to building and maintaining a strong technical and scientific workforce,” said Ceren Susut, Associate Director of DOE’s Advanced Scientific Computing Research program.

“The CSGF provides a unique opportunity for emerging leaders in high-performance computing to directly contribute to NNSA’s mission of providing a resilient Nuclear Security Enterprise for the nation, our allies, and our partners. By better understanding the key scientific issues in HPC and the scientific underpinnings necessary to ensure a safe, secure, and reliable nuclear deterrent, CSGF remains a great investment in our mission and workforce,” said Steve Binkley, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation in NNSA’s Office of Defense Programs.

The DOE CSGF’s interdisciplinary science and engineering track supports students in a range of fields, but all share a common element: applying HPC to research problems. A second track supports those studying applied mathematics, statistics, computer science, computer engineering, or computational science – in one of those departments or their academic equivalent − with research interests that help scientists use emerging high-performance systems more effectively. This includes students focused on issues in HPC as a broad enabling technology rather than a particular science or engineering application. Regardless of track affiliation, fellows’ research increasingly includes elements of artificial intelligence and machine learning, uniquely positioning them to contribute to U.S. investments in current and future computing architectures.

Fellows receive exceptional benefits, including a $45,000 yearly stipend; full payment of university tuition and required fees; and an annual academic allowance. Renewable for up to four years, the fellowship is guided by a comprehensive program of study that requires focused coursework in science and engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, and HPC. It also includes a three-month practicum at one of 21 DOE laboratories or sites across the country.

The newest fellows, their institutions and research focus are:

• David Abadie – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Molecular Simulation/Quantum Computing); Undergraduate institution: Tulane University
• Vaishnavi Addala – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Quantum Information Science);  Undergraduate institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Caira Anderson – Cornell University (Applied Mathematics); Undergraduate institution: Smith College
• Julian Bellavita – Cornell University (Computer Science); Undergraduate institution: University of California, Berkeley
• Isabel Berry – Georgia Institute of Technology (Computational Chemistry); Undergraduate institution: Eckerd College
• Conor Bready – University of California, Berkeley (Theoretical Chemistry); Undergraduate institution: Furman University
• Logan Cabral-Pelletier – University of Chicago (Geophysical Sciences); Undergraduate institution: University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
• Alvaro Carbonero Gonzales – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Electrical Engineering); Undergraduate institution: University of Nevada, Las Vegas
• Clement Charles – University of Maryland, College Park (Physics); Undergraduate institution: University of the West Indies
• Emily Chen – Stanford University (Computational Materials Science); Undergraduate institution: University of Chicago
• Luis de Pablo – University of Colorado Boulder (Computational Ecology); Undergraduate institution: Amherst College
• James Dockery – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Astronomy); Undergraduate institution: College of Charleston
• Marissa (Mar) Dolorfino – University of Michigan (Bioinformatics/Computational Biology); Undergraduate institution: Kalamazoo College
• Rae Fadlovich – University of California, Santa Cruz (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology); Undergraduate institution: Arizona State University
• Raven Gallenstein – Boston College (Computational Chemistry); Undergraduate institution: Texas Woman’s University
• Fred Angelo Garcia – Columbia University (Astrophysics); Undergraduate institution: University of Maryland, College Park
• Gabriel Guo – Stanford University (Computer Science); Undergraduate institution: Columbia University
• Alexia Hartzell – University of Texas at Austin (Physical Chemistry); Undergraduate institution: University of Texas, Arlington
• Jessica Jiang – California Institute of Technology (Physics); Undergraduate institution: Smith College
• Nothando Khumalo – University of California, Los Angeles (Theoretical Chemistry); Undergraduate institution: Bowdoin College
• Tanvi Krishnan – Harvard University (Experimental Neutrino Physics); Undergraduate institution: Harvey Mudd College
• Jackson Lee – Columbia University (Condensed Matter Physics); Undergraduate institution: Rutgers University
• Vassiliki Mancoridis – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Environmental Science); Undergraduate institution: Princeton University
• Aaron Miller – Harvard University (Applied Mathematics); Undergraduate institution: University of North Carolina
• Grant (Cage) Mitchell – Stanford University (Computational Oceanography); Undergraduate institution: Coastal Carolina University
• Praneeta (Prani) Nalluri – Columbia University (Applied Mathematics); Undergraduate institution: Rice University
• Alex Negron – Princeton University (Mathematics); Undergraduate institution: Illinois Institute of Technology
• Zijian (William) Niu – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Computational and Systems Biology); Undergraduate institution: University of Pennsylvania
• Ibrohim Nosirov – Cornell University (Applied Mathematics); Undergraduate institution: Colorado School of Mines
• Maxwell Paik – New York University (Computer Graphics); Undergraduate institution: Northwestern University
• Margaret Powell – Columbia University (Climate and Atmospheric Sciences); Undergraduate institution: Harvard College
• Cameron Rodriguez – Columbia University (Engineering Mechanics); Undergraduate institution: University of Florida
• Sevio Stanton – University of Colorado Boulder (Particle Physics); Undergraduate institution: Boise State University
• Maya Taylor – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Parallel Programming); Undergraduate institution: Brown University
• Anne Tumlin – Vanderbilt University (Computer Science); Undergraduate institution: University of South Carolina
• Jessica Williams – University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Computer Science); Undergraduate institution: Texas A&M University
• Xiaomian Yang – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Polymer Physics); Undergraduate institution: Stanford University
• William Yik – University of Washington (Atmospheric Sciences); Undergraduate institution: Harvey Mudd College
• Albert Zhu – Harvard University (Computational Physics); Undergraduate institution: Harvard University
• Sophia Zorek – Rice University (Computer Vision and Applied Probability); Undergraduate institution: Rice University

Additional details for each fellow will be available in September via the program’s online fellow directory.