Twelve UD students, alumni win prestigious research support

A dozen University of Delaware students (undergraduate and graduate) and alumni have won National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships as the prestigious competition marks its 65th year. Fourteen others received honorable mention designations.

The awards — for which more than 13,000 applicants competed this year — include three years of funding at $34,000 per year, plus $12,000 in cost-of-education allowances to the school for study leading to a master’s or doctoral degree in science and engineering. The total of these awards is almost $1.4 million — a significant boost for the students and their research.

“Research is incredibly important,” said Dianna Kitt, a senior majoring in environmental engineering and one of UD’s 12 winners. “On a large scale, research is what drives our society and allows us to create new technologies and processes that protect humans, animals and the environment. On a smaller scale, research pushes you as an individual to think outside of the book and answer problems that no one else has answered before.”

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