Edmond B. Franklin Scholarship

The Franklin Scholarship recognizes exceptional promise based on academic achievement. Physics majors are eligible for this scholarship; Astrophysics majors are not.

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2024 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Brian Ackerman: "I previously worked for John Dombeck in Space Physics researching Auroral Precipitation Mechanisms in the Earth's Magnetosphere. I am also greatly interested in High Energy Experimental Physics research and the Standard Model."

Peter Hofhansel: "I am currently working in condensed matter physics studying mercury cuprate and second harmonic generation."

Aina Lopez Benet

Sean Poczos: "I am most focused on experimental high-energy physics. Specifically, using CMS data in the search for the right-handed W boson. "

Jacob Rasmussen: "I am currently studying to deepen my understanding of quantum physics. Currently, I feel rather hung-up on nuclear fusion. I aim (hope) to begin expanding myself into research this year in preparation for graduate study in physics."

Nikita Roldan-Levchenko: Nikita's research mainly revolves around the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation of 2DEG material devices (such as graphene) in order to reveal their exotic interactions with light.


 

Junha Yoo

Group photo

2023 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Nicole D'angelo

Nicole is originally is from Lockport, Illinois.Her area of research interest is currently in high energy and particle physics

Siddarth Gorregattu
Siddarth is from Plymouth, Minnesota.He is currently interested in solid state physics and quantum materials.
 
Brian Krohnke Orquera
Brian was born and raised in Ibarra, Ecuador and I came to Minnesota for family and to study physics. I am generally interested in solid-state physics. In the future, I hope to contribute to the development of quantum devices and their use in quantum information and computation technologies. 
 

Khiem Nguyen

Jeongsoo Park
Jeongsoo is originally from Seoul, South Korea. "I came to America in the beginning of 2019 to learn English, physics, and mathematics. My interest lies in theoretical physics. I love to study quantum mechanics and theory of relativity. So, my dream is to find quantum gravity theory someday."

Megan Schoenzeit 
Meghan is originally from Mound, Minnesota. She is currently working in Professor Dahlberg's condensed matter lab. 

Isaiah Wardlaw
Isaiah is from Upsala, Minnesota. His primary area of research interest is HEP instrumentation. Ancillary areas of interest include molecular dynamics, gravitational lensing, and scanning probe microscopy.

Nicole D'angelo, Siddarth Gorregattu, Brian Krohnke Orquera, Jeongsoo Park, Megan Schoenzelt and Isaiah Wardlaw, Franklin Scholarship recipients

2022 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Felipe Bergami Fernandes

Felipe is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He plans to use the award money to pay for tuition for the next two semesters. "I’m most interested in high energy physics and photovoltaic cells research. However, I must note that I’m currently not involved with any research project on campus, as this is my first semester being physically on campus (due to Covid complications in previous years), and I first wanted some time to focus on classes as well as figuring out the logistics of living alone (technically with a roommate) in another country. With that said, I do intend to get more involved with research next semester!"

Nicole D'Angelo
Nicole is originally from Lockport, Illinois. She plans to use the scholarship money for tuition. "I am most interested in particle physics research, but I’ve noticed that the longer I am here and the further I am into my academic career, more areas of research are extremely interesting to me. So, I am keeping my options open!"
 
Joe Gehrke
Joe is from Bethel, MN. He plans to use the scholarship to allow himself to work less during the semester and be able to do more undergraduate research. His main research interests is "either HEP or Space/Astrophysics, but I haven't been able to decide yet."
 

Justin Juhl

Justin is from Cottage Grove, Minnesota. His plan is to work less next semester and instead get involved in research. "As of right now, I am most interested in high-energy physics. I think I may want to go into the theoretical side later on."
Nicholas Kawamura
Nicholas is from Bangor, in Maine. He will be using the scholarship to pay tuition. "I'm a biophysicist, primarily.  It's nice to be able to branch out into many disciplines that way, and I've gotten to do a good amount of work under professors here at the college."
 
Jackson Timm
Jackson is originally from Lindstrom, Minnesota. He plans to use the award money for tuition expenses. "I am most focused on experimental condensed matter physics."
 
 

 

2022 Edmond B. Franklin recipients: Felipe Bergami Fernandes, Nicole D'Angelo, Joe Gehrke, Justin Juhl, Nicholas Kawamura, Jackson Timm

2021 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Sara Moore

Sara is originally from San Jose, California and plans to use this money to help pay for her education through senior year of college. Sara is most interested in optics research.

Joseph Gehrke
Joe is from Bethel, MN. He plans to use the scholarship to further his education and research interests as it will allow him to be able to afford to take up more unpaid research positions. Joe's interest is in Astrophysics primarily, although HEP has been very interesting to him lately.
 
Nicholas Kawamura
Nicholas is from Bangor, in Maine. He will be using the scholarship to pay tuition. Nicholas is focusing on biophysics as his emphasis.
 
Campbell Haasch
Campbell is from Omaha, Nebraska. He plans to use the money to pay for tuition. Campbell is focused on Cosmology and applications of machine learning to data processing.
 
Alec Nilson
Alec is from Maple Grove, MN. He will be using the scholarship money to help pay for tuition for the upcoming academic year. "I don't have a particular area of interest, but my interests include condensed matter, high energy, and nuclear physics."

 

2021 Franklin Scholarship winners

2020 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Chen "Kole" Yu

Kole is originally from a small town in south-west China. They plan to use the money to pay for tuition. Kole is interested in statistical physics and its various applications.

Tien "Anthony" Vo

Anthony is from Vietnam. The award money will allow him to work less and focus more on upcoming projects with Professor Cattell and Professor Rusack in my senior year. Anthony is working on simulation research in space physics, analyzing numerical methods and building metrics for computational results. He is attracted to the theoretical side of things. He is also interested in quantum mechanics and high energy physics and will start related projects in the future.

Rory Spanier

Rory is from Sartell, MN. The award money will cover a significant portion of his senior year tuition so that he will graduate with less debt. He is most interested in particle physics.

Jesse Donahue

Jesse is from Andover, MN. His scholarship will go towards tuition at the University of Minnesota next year. He is interested in applying physics-based approaches to the study of intelligent systems. "Many of the most promising approaches to understand both biological and artificial intelligence draw heavily from statistical physics and dynamical systems."

Thomas Richardson

Thomas is from Hull, England. He plans to use the scholarship to help fund his research in Professor Dahlberg’s lab, which will be a great jumping off point in preparation for grad school. He is focused on condensed matter physics.

Sylvia Griffitt

Slyvia is originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin. She plans to use the money to pay for part of her senior year of college with the award. She is currently doing research on superconductivity in bismuthates, in solid state physics.

 

2020 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

2019 Franklin Scholarship Recipients

Rory Spanier

Rory is from Sartell, MN. The award money will cover a significant portion of his senior year tuition so that he will graduate with less debt. He is most interested in particle physics.

Amanda Gatto
 
Xiaohuan Xia
 
Jesse Donahue

Jesse is from Andover, MN. His scholarship will go towards tuition at the University of Minnesota next year. He is interested in applying physics-based approaches to the study of intelligent systems. "Many of the most promising approaches to understand both biological and artificial intelligence draw heavily from statistical physics and dynamical systems."

Jonathan Brashear
 
Thomas Richardson

Thomas is from Hull, England. He plans to use the scholarship to help fund his research in Professor Dahlberg’s lab, which will be a great jumping off point in preparation for grad school. He is focused on condensed matter physics.

Dakota Hall

 

2019 Franklin Scholarship Recipients