{"id":55458,"date":"2026-04-30T16:05:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/?post_type=news&p=55458"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:07:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:07:35","slug":"engineering-students-win-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/news\/engineering-students-win-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering students win National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two doctoral students in the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering\u2019s Department of Civil and Systems Engineering<\/a> (CaSE) have been named recipients of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program. Heidi Li and Kelly Larson are among 2,500 awardees nationwide who were chosen from nearly 14,000 applicants. They join 32 other Johns Hopkins fellows recognized in this year\u2019s cohort.<\/p>\n

NSF\u2019s fellowship program was developed in 1952 to ensure the quality and strength of the United States\u2019 scientific and engineering workforce by supporting students pursuing full-time research-based master\u2019s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields. Fellows are selected based on their demonstrated potential for significant achievements in research and how well their focus areas align with national priorities and workforce demands.<\/p>\n

Li focuses on improving energy affordability and grid resilience. She says her proposal was shaped through insights and feedback from many people, including her advisor, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Daniel Kammen<\/a>, collaborators, professors, and peers from the Ralph O\u2019Connor Sustainable Energy Institute, CaSE and the departments of electrical and computer engineering and environmental health and engineering.<\/p>\n

Li says the fellowship will support her research on \u201cequitable and efficient energy systems, particularly in advancing approaches to integrate distributed energy resources for affordability and grid resilience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larson\u2019s research centers on bi-level inverse optimization for policy design in complex service systems. She credits her mentors, including civil and systems engineer, Takeru Igusa<\/a>, and peers and professors in CaSE and the JHU National Fellowship Program for a successful proposal submission.<\/p>\n

Larson says the fellowship will further her research \u201cusing agent-based modeling to simulate maternal health policy interventions aimed at improving healthcare access, workforce retention, and patient outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fellowship provides three years of financial support over a five-year period with an annual stipend, cost-of-education allowance, and access to supplemental funding to sustain research while on medical leave.<\/p>\n

Since its inception, GRFP has supported more than 70,000 graduate research fellows, many of whom have gone on to become leaders in research and innovation. The program has spurred scientific breakthroughs and economically significant innovations, with more than 40 former fellows having received Nobel Prizes.<\/p>\n

The full list of this year\u2019s recipients can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-55458","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-awards-and-honors","news_categories-student-experience"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEngineering students win National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships - Department of Civil & Systems Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/news\/engineering-students-win-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Engineering students win National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships - Department of Civil & Systems Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two doctoral students in the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering\u2019s Department of Civil and Systems Engineering (CaSE) have been named recipients of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/case\/news\/engineering-students-win-national-science-foundation-graduate-research-fellowships\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Civil & Systems Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-30T20:07:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Engineering students win National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships - 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