U.S. Department of Energy Selects 35th Class of Computational Science Graduate Fellows

Thirty students on the path to achieving doctorates in fields that emphasize the use of computing and mathematics have been selected for the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) program.

The 2025-2026 incoming fellows will attend 21 U.S. universities as they learn to apply high-performance computing (HPC) to research in disciplines including machine learning, quantum computing, chemistry, astrophysics, computational biology, energy, engineering and applied mathematics. New-class members earned undergraduate degrees from 28 institutions, several of which are new to the DOE CSGF.

The program, established in 1991 and funded by the DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), trains top leaders in computational science. As of Sept. 1, the DOE CSGF community will include more than 700 fellows and alumni who represent a total of 86 Ph.D. institutions. More than 500 program alumni work in an expanding number of fields that support computing's capacity to maintain the nation’s advantage in energy science and other urgent scientific and technological challenges.

"We are so pleased to congratulate the 30 new fellows," said Ceren Susut, Associate Director of Science for DOE's Advanced Scientific Computing Research program. "Each of these incredibly talented people has demonstrated both outstanding academic achievement and tremendous research potential. Their research topics cover some of the highest priorities of the Department of Energy, including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and science and engineering for energy and nuclear security. Over the last 34 years, CSGF has produced a disproportionate share of high-performance-computing leaders in industry, the national laboratories, and academia, and the Department is proud to continue its support for this critical program."

“High-performance computing is a key element of NNSA’s mission to ensure the safety and security of the nation’s nuclear deterrent,” added Stephen Rinehart, Assistant Deputy Administrator for the NNSA Office of Advanced Simulation and Computing and Institutional Research and Development Programs. “The CSGF program is a valuable workforce development of future DOE laboratory scientists who will apply HPC simulations to solve complex problems in science and engineering, including in areas of import to the NNSA. We look forward to seeing what this year’s fellows will do and the impacts they will have on the DOE missions.”

The DOE CSGF’s interdisciplinary science and engineering track supports students in a range of fields, but all share a common element: applying HPC to research problems. A second track supports those studying applied mathematics, statistics, computer science or computer engineering – in one of those departments or their academic equivalent − with research interests that advance HPC use in science. This includes students focused on HPC as a broad enabling technology rather than a particular science or engineering application. Regardless of track affiliation, fellows’ research increasingly includes elements of artificial intelligence and machine learning, positioning them to contribute to the United States’ investments in emerging computing architectures.

Fellows receive support that includes a stipend, tuition, and fees, and an annual academic allowance. Renewable for up to four years, the fellowship is guided by a comprehensive program of study that requires focused coursework in science and engineering, computer science, applied mathematics and HPC. It also includes a three-month practicum at one of 22 DOE-approved sites across the country, and an annual meeting where fellows present their research in poster and talk formats.

Members of the DOE CSGF’s 35^th cohort, their institutions (UG = undergrad) and research focus are:

Eliza Asani
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Physical Chemistry
UG: University of Alabama, Huntsville

Timothy Baer
Stanford University
Applied Mathematics
UG: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Evan Bell
Johns Hopkins University
Machine Learning and Computational Imaging
UG: Michigan State University

Alli Brophy
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Computational and Applied Mathematics
UG: Winthrop University

Pascal Caraccioli Salinas
Cornell University
Geological Sciences
UG: Portland State University

Lily Chen
Stanford University
Machine Learning
UG: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Noah Conner
University of Michigan
Applied Mathematics
UG: University of Utah

Gage Erwin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Quantum Information Physics
UG: University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Nicole Flors
Northwestern University
Astronomy
UG: Boston University

Emily Foley
University of Arizona
Applied Mathematics
UG: Wake Forest University

Skylar Gering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Applied Ocean Science and Engineering
UG: Harvey Mudd College

Julia Gersey
University of Michigan
Computer Engineering
UG: Baldwin Wallace University

Stephen Huan
Carnegie Mellon University
Machine Learning
UG: Georgia Institute of Technology

Laura Lewis
University of California, Berkeley
Quantum Information
UG: California Institute of Technology

Stefanie Moncayo
University of California, Berkeley
Microbiology
UG: Dominican University New York

Miles Moore
University of Colorado Boulder
Ecology
UG: University of Colorado Boulder

Jack Morgenstein
Princeton University
Chemistry
UG: Duke University

Zachary Morrell
University of Chicago
Quantum Computing
UG: University of New Mexico

Hrishikesh Ram
University of California, Berkeley
Chemical Engineering
UG: North Carolina State University

Levi Raskin
University of California, Berkeley
Computational Biology
UG: Haverford College

Giovanni Rivera
University of California, Riverside
Computer Science
UG: California State University, Dominguez Hills

Emmanuel Sanchez
University of Texas at Austin
Mechanical Engineering
UG: University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Cheyanne Shariat
California Institute of Technology
Astrophysics
UG: University of California, Los Angeles

Cooper Simpson
University of Washington
Applied Mathematics
UG: University of Colorado Boulder

Troy Smith
University of Georgia
Physical Chemistry
UG: State University of New York, College at Brockport

Isabella Stewart
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Materials and Mechanics
UG: Wellesley College

Jamar Sullivan
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Computational Science and Engineering
UG: University of Chicago

Janet Teng
Stanford University
Chemical Engineering
UG: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Aidan Wilber-Gauthier
Yale University
Physics - Quantum Information Science
UG: University of Michigan

Michelle Winham-Gee
Stanford University
Fluids and Computational Engineering
UG: Oregon State University-Cascades