Tripathy Memorial Endowed Summer Graduate Fellowship

Each year, since 2003, the Tripathy Memorial Endowed Summer Graduate Fellowship has been presented to an outstanding, qualified senior graduate student whose research topic is in the various fields of materials science and/or material engineering and who are in the final stages of finishing his/her doctor program at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML). It is hoped that the Tripathy Fellow will lead to outstanding professional careers.

The deadline to submit a completed application is April 16.

  • April 30 of the awarding year - Selection and Interview Process
  • June 1 of the awarding year - Announcement of Fellow(s)
  • June 1 - August 31 - Fellowship Period
  • Number of Fellowships - up to two per year
  • Fellowship Stipend - $7,500

Qualifications

  • Student must have a 3.3 or higher G.P.A.
  • Student must have completed the required doctoral course work, proposal defense and qualifying exam at UMass Lowell.
  • Student must have completed all doctoral requirements except thesis submission.
  • Student must have demonstrated research abilities through peer-reviewed publications and presentations.

Required Documents

  • Completed application form
  • Transcript
  • Certificate from your thesis advisor (pdf)
  • 2 letters of recommendations (one being from your thesis advisor, and the other from UMass Lowell faculty) Email to: Susan_Damore@uml.edu subject line: Fellowship Recommendation Letter
  • Research work (Maximum 500 words) - prepare for your research work abstract
    • Provide a title of your Research
    • Description: There are several components to this section to convey about your research work performed at UMass Lowell to the committee. The committee members have diverse research background and may not be familiar with your area of research or details of your particular research topic. It is important to convey this message in 500 words and should not exceed more than one page. The first paragraph must provide basic background information needed to understand the research work you are currently working on.
    • In the second paragraph, describe your specific research work you are currently working towards your thesis work. Explain the problem; describe your approach solving this problem. Highlight your research results and progress of your efforts in solving the problem. Provide adequate technical detail so that committee members understand your accomplishments.
    • Within these two paragraphs we should be able to know about your research topic, your technical approach, your progress and results and accomplishments. It is important to highlight only your contributions to the project so that the committee can differentiate our work from the others.
    • Also, explain in brief, how your research work is related to materials science research and its potential benefits of your work.
    • Further, the abstract should be clear, concise and convincing paragraphs to know you better through your research work.
    • Summary of the planned research work, if this fellowship is awarded to you (Maximum 250 words)
  • Vision Statement (Maximum 500 words) - Your vision statement is all about you after your graduation from UMass Lowell. You should be thinking of your career path and your passion for the kind of work you wish to do for fulfilling your dreams. This is not about what you will be immediately doing soon after graduation like a post-doctoral training, as an example. You should provide what kind of career you are looking for and how you are going to achieve it in next 5 to 10 years. Narrate the rationale behind your selection of this path and how it fulfills your dream.
  • Resume

If you are one of the finalists, the selection committee will call for an interview. Your prepared 20-minute oral presentation should be organized as follows:

  1. Background
  2. Your actual research work, results and summary
  3. Planned research work for the summer, if you are selected for the award

The Committee will then select up to two outstanding students for this prestigious award.

Graduate Fellowship Online Application

For additional information, please email: TripathyFellowship@uml.edu

Selection Committee

  • Jayant Kumar, Prof., Physics & Applied Physics, Director of the Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), Email: Jayant_Kumar@uml.edu
  • Ramaswamy Nagarajan, Prof., Plastics Engineering, and Co-Director of the HEROES Initiative, Email: Ramaswamy_Nagarajan@uml.edu
  • Susan Thomson-Tripathy, Lecturer and Director of the BLA Program, Email: Susan_Tripathy@uml.edu
  • Dhimiter Bello, Associate Professor, Director of Research and Graduate Studies for the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences, Email: Dhimiter_Bello@uml.edu,
  • Ashok Cholli, President, Polnox Corporation, Email: ACholli@Polnox.com

Past Recipients

The past recipients of this summer award are:

  • 2022: Graduate: Priyanka Biswas and Hasitha Gamage
  • 2021: Graduate: William Ndugire and Sanika Suvarnapathaki
  • 2020: Graduate: Shiran Yu and Varun Venoor
  • 2019: Graduate: Parthena Chorti and Sashini Wijetunge
  • 2018: Graduate: Zhiyu Xia and Nischay Kodihalli Shivaprakash
  • 2017:
    • Graduate: Siddarth Dev and Samurdhi Amameth Wijesundera
    • Undergraduate: Patrick John McLaughlin
  • 2016: Graduate: Zarif Farhana and Olga Kononova
  • 2015:
    • Graduate: Hardeep Singh and Junwei Su
    • Undergraduate: Patrick Facedola
  • 2014: Surangi Jayawardena
  • 2013: Joshna Chittigori
  • 2012: Sethumadhavan Ravichandran, Soumitra Satapathi
  • 2011: Abhishek Kumar, JiSun Im
  • 2010: Ryan Bouldin
  • 2009: Jagdeep Singh
  • 2008: Rahul Panchal, Rahul Tyagi
  • 2007: Yanping Wang, Dingsong Feng
  • 2006: Amol Chendekar, Subhalakshmi Nagarajan
  • 2005: Sarika Verma, Xonghua Zhou
  • 2004: Bon Cheol Ku, Xiaodong Wu
  • 2003: Xian Yan Wang, Heejoon Ahn