09. 08. 2025

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the 2025-26 External Fellowship Recipients 

Congratulations to the recipients of a prestigious external fellowship for the upcoming academic year! There are many prestigious and competitive external fellowships that UMN graduate students can apply to and receive annually, and the following are administered by the Graduate School’s Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards.

FULBRIGHT U.S. STUDENT PROGRAM

The Fulbright U.S. Student Program expands perspectives through academic and professional advancement and cross-cultural dialogue while creating connections in a complex and changing world. In partnership with more than 140 countries worldwide, the Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers unparalleled opportunities in all academic disciplines to passionate and accomplished graduating college seniors, graduate students, and young professionals from all backgrounds.

Vanessa Czeszynski

Graduate Program: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior
Fulbright Award: Open Study/Research Award in Norway

BTAA SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program offers opportunities for independent research and study related to Smithsonian collections, facilities, and/or research interests of the Institution and its staff. Fellowships are offered to graduate students to conduct independent research and to utilize the resources of the Institution with members of the Smithsonian professional research staff serving as advisors and hosts.

O.M. Comstock

Graduate Program: Art History
Smithsonian American Art Museum

NEWCOMBE DOCTORAL DISSERTATION FELLOWSHIP

The Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship has become a nationally recognized award that distinguishes recipients within their fields. Newcombe Fellows are often at the forefront of creative and original scholarship, proposing new insights and ground-breaking work in the questions and conversations surrounding religion, ethics, and values.

Muhammad Osama Imran

Graduate Program: Anthropology
Dissertation: Breaths of Extimacy: Spectral Madness, Certainty, and Conspiracy in Sufi Ethics

NSF GRFP

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) was established to recruit and support individuals who demonstrate the potential to make significant contributions in STEM. The purpose of the NSF GRFP  is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and strength of the scientific and engineering workforce, and the multi-year fellowship is awarded to outstanding graduate students who are pursuing full-time, research-based masters and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering or math or STEM education.

Lina Abu-Absi

Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering

Maya Adelgren

Graduate Program: Civil Engineering

Ikumi Ellis

Graduate Program: Chemistry

Michael Feldkamp

Graduate Program: Mechanical Engineering

Christina Feng

Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Michael Galvin

Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering

Jack Girton

Graduate Program: Chemical Engineering

Armand Lannerd

Graduate Program: Materials Science and Engineering

Ethan Lynch

Graduate Program: Earth Sciences

Michael McGuigan

Graduate Program: Conservation Sciences

Miguel Mercado

Graduate Program: Physics

Beatrice Ojuri

Graduate Program: Developmental Psychology

Jason Palos

Graduate Program: Mathematics

Mason Polencheck

Graduate Program: Conservation Sciences

Tesia Shi

Graduate Program: Psychology

Ava Slade

Graduate Program: Civil Engineering

Michael Thomas

Graduate Program: Mathematics

Fleur Uittenbogaard

Graduate Program: Neuroscience

Wes Walsh

Graduate Program: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

Yuanyue Yao

Graduate Program: Earth Sciences