Math undergraduate receives NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

04-10-2018

Congratulations to Alan Min, graduating senior in Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, on receiving the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 

In his upcoming graduate work, Min is interested in looking at applying Bayesian Statistics to network models, in particular to models for biological systems. 

At Purdue, he studied hyperplane arrangements with Prof. Uli Walther in Mathematics. Then as a member of the Statistics Living Learning Community, he worked with Professors Doraiswami Ramkrishna Chongli Yuan in Chemical Engineering on identifying cell types based on fluorescent microscopy images using machine learning and applying a kinetic model to predict locations for DNA methylation.  During a summer internship with the National Institutes of Health, he worked with fMRI brain scans - which measures brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.   The fellowship was awarded to 2,000 young scientists out of the 12,000 applicants that came from all 50 U.S. states, as well as the District of Columbia and U.S. territories. Honorable mention recognition went to 1,459 individuals.

GRFP provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period; a $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution. That support is for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in a STEM field.