BIOS students awarded prestigious NSF fellowship, honorable mentions

April 29, 2014

Erika Helgeson

Erika Helgeson, doctoral student in biostatistics at the Gillings School of Global Public Health, has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. Two other biostatistics students, Scott Karl Van Buren and Eric Van Buren, received honorable mentions.

The fellowship program recognizes outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. NSF fellows receive three years of support, including an annual stipend, international research and professional opportunities and access to a supercomputer.

NSF received more than 14,000 applications in the 2014 competition and made 2,000 award offers. Of those, 23 were from UNC-Chapel Hill. Currently, 71 Carolina graduate students are supported with NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.

“Carolina’s talented graduate students who work alongside our esteemed faculty make significant contributions in teaching and research at our great University,” said Chancellor Carol L. Folt. “We thank the National Science Foundation for supporting these promising scientists and engineers who are developing important, new ideas for North Carolina and the world.”

Graduate students who receive prestigious external fellowship bring millions of dollars in external funding to support their graduate studies each year. On April 24, the Graduate School recognized a number of public health students for winning competitive national fellowships and grants during academic year 2013-2014, including NSF GRFP fellowships. (See earlier news article.)