3 William & Mary doctoral students awarded graduate fellowships at Jefferson Lab
At Jefferson Lab: A researcher assembles lead glass rods during the installation of Jefferson Lab’s upgrade for its Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator. Many William & Mary faculty and students are collaborators at the facility in Newport News. Photo courtesy Jefferson Lab
Jefferson Sciences Associates (JSA) has announced the award of nine graduate fellowships to doctoral students for the 2019-2020 academic year. Three of the fellowships went to students at William & Mary.
The fellowships will support students’ advanced studies at their universities and research at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Newport News.
The 2019-2020 JSA/Jefferson Lab graduate fellowship recipients include three Ph.D. students from William & Mary:
- Colin Egerer — advisor Konstantinos Orginos, associate professor of physics
- Tanjib Khan — advisor Konstantinos Orginos
- Amy Schertz — advisor Justin Stevens, assistant professor of physics
The students’ research proposals cover a broad scientific spectrum, including experimental, theoretical and accelerator physics.
“It is heartening to see the interest of talented young students in the 12 GeV science program as they continue their academic pursuit. These fellowships provide the opportunity for students to collaborate with scientists and mentors to make research contributions to the scientific program at Jefferson Lab,” said Jefferson Lab Deputy Director for Science & Technology Robert McKeown, the Governor's Distinguished CEBAF Professor of Physics at William & Mary. “This year’s applicant pool reflects the excitement of Jefferson Lab’s science program for young researchers.”
Jefferson Lab’s user roster for 2018 lists a total of 68 William & Mary users, including faculty, graduate students and undergraduates.
Fellowship recipients are chosen based on the quality of their research proposals, their academic standing, and the references of their professors and senior scientists at Jefferson Lab. Students will continue their coursework while enhancing their academic experience with direct interactions and participation with mentors and scientists at the laboratory.
Christopher Newport University professor Edward Brash chaired the committee of scientists reviewing applications. He commented, “Jefferson Lab is the ideal training ground for the next generation of science leaders in our field, having produced about one-third of the Ph.D.s in nuclear physics in the United States.”
Other committee members included David Richards and Cynthia Keppel, Jefferson Lab; William Briscoe, The George Washington University; and Kent Paschke, University of Virginia.
J Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy nuclear physics laboratory managed and operated by JSA, a joint venture between the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) and Pacific Architects and Engineers.
The SURA Board of Trustees first established the fellowship program in 1989. The program, now supported by the JSA Initiatives Fund, contributes to the student’s research assistant stipend, and additional funds are available for research-related travel for the student during the fellowship period.
All fellowship recipients attend universities that are members of SURA, a consortium of 60 leading research universities. Since the program’s inception, 225 fellowships have been awarded to students from 22 different SURA member universities. SURA built and operated Jefferson Lab, before becoming a partner of Jefferson Science Associates.
