Call for Graduate Student Nominations
Deadline is April 20, 2021
What is it ?
The 95th Colloid and Surface Science Symposium will feature awards for best graduate student oral presentations, sponsored by the ACS journal Langmuir and the ACS Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry. These awards aim to recognize excellence in research as manifested in oral presentations.
There are two levels of awards. First, level is being selected as one of ten presenters for the special symposium “Langmuir Graduate Student Awards Session”. Second level is being selected from among these ten presenters for top three prizes.
All ten selected students will receive cash awards of $250 each. In addition, the top three prize winners will receive additional cash awards of $750, $500 and $250, respectively.
Who is eligible?
Any student who is past the first year of graduate study and who will be enrolled in graduate school at the time of the Symposium in June is eligible.
What are selection considerations?
The ten participants for the special oral session will be selected by a symposium committee based upon:
(i) a long abstract of two pages, (ii) a 2-page CV, and (iii) a recommendation letter from the PhD advisor.
The selection criteria include:
a. Timeliness and relevance to the field of Colloid and Surface Science.
b. Clarity in statement of the problem and research goals
c. Soundness of the approach.
d. Actual accomplishments in research
What should you do to participate?
(i) Submit a regular short abstract to the thematic symposium of your interest by the posted deadline, and register for the meeting as you would normally do to participate in the CSSS. Remember that if you are not selected for the award session, you will still be scheduled to present in the topical symposium to which you are submitting the abstract.
(ii) Prepare your application as a single PDF file including: (a) a long abstract of two pages, (b) a 2-page CV including your complete contact information, and (c) a recommendation letter from the PhD advisor.
(iii) Email this pdf application to Ramanathan.Nagarajan.Civ@mail.mil before April 20, 2021.
How will the ten participants for the oral award session be selected?
The ten presenters from among all applicants will be selected by a panel of judges based on a review of the application packages submitted and using the criteria stipulated above. The selected presenters in the awards session will be notified by May 10, 2021 of their selection. The students not selected for the award session will also be notified and their presentations will be scheduled as part of the regular topical symposium selected by them during abstracts submission.
How will the top three winners will be selected?
The top three prize winners will be selected by a panel of judges at the oral session.
Panel of Judges for Phase I Selection
(Selecting 10 Candidates for Oral Presentations)
Michael Bevan (Johns Hopkins University)
Marina Ruths (University of Massachusetts – Lowell)
Sergiy Minko (University of Georgia)
Robert Tilton (Carnegie Mellon University)
Charles Maldarelli (City University of New York)
Panel of Judges for Phase II Selection
(Selecting Top 3 Award Winners Based on Oral Presentations)
Joelle Frechette (Johns Hopkins University)
Shelley Claridge (Purdue University)
Gilbert Walker (University of Toronto & Editor in Chief, Langmuir)
Lisa Sibani Biswal (Rice University)
Themis Matsoukas (Pennsylvania State University)
Phase I Awardees
The judges have selected the following 11 candidates for participation in the Phase II oral part of the competition.
Student Name |
Institution |
Title of Abstract |
| Berlinger, Sarah | UC Berkeley | Ionomer/Catalyst Particle Interactions in Fuel-Cell Inks |
| Browne, Christopher | Princeton University | Elastic turbulence generates anomalous flow resistance in porous media |
| Kim, Ahyoung | University of Illinois | Synthesis and Assembly of Polymer-Patched Nanoparticles |
| Lobmeyer, Dana | Rice University | Shear Induced Grain Boundary Formation in Magnetically Actuated Colloidal Crystals |
| Pinals, Rebecca | UC Berkeley | Quantifying In-Solution Biomolecular Exchange Dynamics on Carbon Nanotubes toward Improved Nanosensor Design |
| Pradeep, Shravan | NC State University | Probing contact microstructure in dense colloidal suspensions |
| Rajabi, Mojtaba | Kent State University | Dynamic control of active droplet propulsion in a nematic environment by an electric field |
| Rehn, Sarah | Rice University | Mechanochemistry of Inorganic Nanostructures |
| Tein, Summer | University of Delaware | Investigating complex fluid interfaces with decoupled shear and dilatational interfacial rheology |
| Venkatesh, Bharath | University of Pennsylvania | Dynamics of polymers under extreme nanoconfinement of disordered nanoparticle packings |
| Wu, Haichao | University of Colorado Boulder | Mechanisms of Transport Enhancement for Self-Propelled Nanoswimmers in a Porous Matrix |