The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) is the oldest graduate research fellowship of its kind, recognizing highly successful graduate students in STEM fields. This year, two graduate students from the Johns Hopkins Department of Computer Science have been selected as awardees: Orion Weller and Ama Koranteng.
Weller, a first-year CS PhD student at the Center for Language and Speech Processing, is broadly interested in natural language processing and machine learning, and he currently focuses on improving the way that machines retrieve and reason over language data in order to improve information access.
Weller is advised by Benjamin van Durme, associate professor of computer science, and Dawn Lawrie, associate research scientist in Computer Science.
“I am honored to be awarded this fellowship and am grateful for the opportunity to be able to use this award to focus more deeply on these research problems,” stated Weller.
Koranteng, a second year PhD student in the Theory and Programming Languages group, is focused on theoretical computer science, graph algorithms, and approximation algorithms. Ama also serves as a PhD representative on the CS Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
Koranteng is advised by Michael Dinitz, associate professor of computer science.
“I’m stoked to win the fellowship because it means someone out there was interested in what I have to say and saw potential in me and my future,” stated Koranteng.
The NSF GRFP awardees are funded with an annual stipend of $34,000, along with a $12,000 allowance for educational costs. Those selected will also have access to a multitude of professional development opportunities through the National Science Foundation and have historically gone on to make extraordinary contributions to their fields.
For more information on the NSF GRFP and its history, click here.