“Students are often intimidated to do the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program because of the cost of one undergraduate degree,” said Nirmal Krishnan, a graduate student in the Department of Computer Science. Krishnan obtained a Bachelor’s in Computer Science in May 2018. He will soon obtain his Master’s in Computer Science in December 2018 and is one of the first ever Gerald Masson Fellows.
Established in memoriam of the department’s inaugural chair and founding director of the Information Security Institute, Professor Gerald M. Masson, the fellowship was created in the summer of 2018 for students in the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program. The program enables undergraduates to apply for and begin taking courses towards a master’s degree before completing their bachelor’s degree. The fellowship provides a 25% tuition waiver for the semester in which an awardee is conducting the graduate research, provided they are enrolled full time.
Krishnan first heard about the fellowship from CS Professor Joanne Selinski. His research interest includes computational genomics, latent variable models, and deep learning. “I think Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are going to be driving the future and I want to be equipped with the necessary skills to be successful,” said Krishnan. In October 2018, Krishnan accepted a job at Microsoft as a Software Engineer in the Cloud and Artificial Intelligence Division and will start shortly after he graduates.
Another Gerald Masson Fellow and CS graduate student, Yu-Chi “Kiki” Chang, says having the fellowship support enables her to focus less on finances and more on her studies. She chose Hopkins because of her interest in conducting research with leaders in her field.
“Hopkins gives you the opportunity to work with world-class scientists and the computer science field lets you do so in a collaborative environment,” said Chang.
Chang obtained her Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Applied Math in May 2018. Her research interests include computational genomics. She’s currently working in CS and Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Steven Salzberg’s lab on a newly published comprehensive gene catalog, called “Chess.” Chang will graduate with her Master’s in May 2019.
To learn more about the Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Program, click here. To learn more about the Gerald M. Masson Fellowship, click here.