Texas State students awarded NSF graduate research fellowships

By Jack McClellan
Office of Media Relations
May 18, 2017

Two students from Texas State University have been selected for National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate research fellowships, which are awarded to graduate or incoming graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Jared Coplin and Kristi Belcher were among 2,000 awardees, selected from more thanr 13,000 applicants. The NSF fellowship provides three years of support, including a $34,000 annual stipend and a cost-of-education allowance of $12,000.

“My research is geared towards reducing both the fiscal and environmental cost of computing without sacrificing performance, designing new highly efficient data processing algorithms, and increasing the data return of space-based scientific instruments,” said Coplin, a graduate student in Computer Science. “It is my hope that my work, supported by the NSF, will lead to the betterment of all of humanity by increasing the rate of scientific discovery in other areas of scientific research that require vast amounts of computational power.”

Belcher, who recently graduated from Texas State, will begin her graduate studies in computer science at the University of Oregon in the fall.

In addition to financial support, the fellowship provides professional development opportunities, such as the Graduate Research Internship Program (GRIP) and Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide (GROW), both of which provide an additional $5,000 to cover travel and research costs associated with an internship project or international collaboration.

“Kristi and Jared already performed impressive research as undergraduates, constantly show leadership by helping others, including more senior students, go above and beyond what is asked for in course work and research and have a strong vision for the future and how computing can benefit the world,” said Martin Burtscher, a professor in the Department of Computer Science. Burtscher acted as undergraduate advisor to both Coplin and Belcher, as well as graduate advisor to Coplin. “The Department of Computer Science and Texas State University are very proud to be producing such strong researchers and future leaders, on par with students graduating from much higher ranked institutions. Having our students honored in this way helps us attract top students, increases our visibility with potential employers of our alumni and reflects our commitment to student success and to becoming a Research I university.”