University of Richmond senior and 2007 graduate awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships
April 17, 2008
University of Richmond senior Matt Luchansky and 2007 graduate Katie Weber have been awarded graduate research fellowships from the National Science Foundation.
The highly competitive awards provide support for graduate study leading to research-based master’s or doctoral degrees. Each fellowship provides $40,500 per year for up to three years for graduate research at any institution. Selection is based on applicants’ demonstrated intellectual merit and the potential for broad impact of their research proposals.
Luchansky, the son of Craig and Patrice Luchansky of Allison Park, Pa., has been conducting glucose-sensing research since his freshman year with Jonathan Dattelbaum, associate professor of chemistry. Their work could help lead to the creation of an implantable chip that would provide real-time monitoring of blood glucose levels as an alternative to current blood-testing methods used by diabetics.
Luchansky is an Ethyl and Albemarle Science Scholar and a member of the American Chemical Society Student Affiliates. He has presented his research at the general meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemistry.
Weber, the daughter of Sharon and John Weber of Coopersburg, Pa., is pursuing a Ph.D. in molecular biology at Cambridge University in England on a Marshall Scholarship that she received in 2007. That scholarship funds two years of post-graduate study in the United Kingdom. The NSF Fellowship will fund the third year.
While at Richmond, Weber conducted research in the lab of Joe Gindhart, associate professor of biology, and presented her work at a conference of the American Society for Cell Biology. She is researching the relationship between genetics and behavior, using a microscopic worm as a model organism to investigate how naturally occurring genetic changes affect neural networks and animal behavior.
NSF fellowships seek to ensure vitality and diversity in science and engineering.