Larry Martin and his wife, Joyce O’Neill have endowed a graduate fellowship for students in the College of Science. Mr. Martin is a math (and engineering) alumnus and had a full career as a mathematician doing mathematical modeling for companies such as Lockheed Martin and IBM before leading Troon Vineyard.

The Larry W. Martin & Joyce B. O’Neill Endowed Fellowship is awarded to a graduate student from any of the seven departments in the College of Science whose research involves computational modeling. This Fellowship covers a stipend of $40,000 disbursed quarterly and a tuition waiver for the academic year. The Fellowship will begin at the start of fall term and continue for one calendar year.

Please note: The Fellow’s department will be responsible for the tuition payment during the summer term at 3 credits.

Application process and deadline

Each department in the College of Science may nominate one graduate student whose research focus involves computational modeling. Nominees in the 2nd or later years of the Ph.D. program will be given preference during the selection process.

Nominations must be submitted by 5 p.m. on February 28, 2025; The nominations must be submitted by a department in the College of Science. Individual students cannot apply directly for this fellowship. The start date for the selected fellow is the following fall term.

Eligibility

The Fellowship is awarded to a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Science whose scientific research makes use of computational modeling. All Ph.D. students beyond the first year are preferred, but any qualified student may be considered.

• The candidate’s research towards the degree must make significant use of computational modeling
• The candidate should have a 3.5 GPA or higher
• The candidate has joined a research group (at a minimum a research group comprises of the student, their research advisor and a research project)

Application instructions

1. Create one combined PDF file.
2. Name the pdf fundingop_Lastname_FirstName.pdf (e.g. DMPF_Jones_Zelda.pdf)
3. Email the one combined PDF to research.development@science.oregonstate.edu

Formatting instructions

• 1-inch margins, single column text
• Allowable fonts: Arial (not Arial Narrow) at a font size 10 points are larger; or Times New Roman or Computer Modern family of fonts at 11 points or larger

Application materials

Submit one pdf with the following materials in the order given below

1. Cover Sheet template (attached) that contains (1-page maximum):
   • Nominating Department
   • Name of Candidate’s Faculty Mentor
   • Graduate Student’s Name
   • Student’s Email
   • Current GPA
   • Year student entered graduate school at OSU
   • Anticipated graduation date from OSU
   • Ph.D. Candidate Confirmation (is the student enrolled in the Ph.D. Program?)
2. Research statement written by the student containing (2 pages maximum)
   • Brief summary of research
   • Significant research accomplishments and other significant achievements or awards
3. References Cited (1 page maximum): This page should follow the Research Statement and should only contain references cited in the statement.
4. Letter of Recommendation by the candidate’s advisor on department letterhead, signed by the mentor (1 page maximum)
5. Fellow’s resume or biosketch (1 page maximum)

Nominations exceeding page limits or that do not follow these instructions will be returned without consideration.

Fellowship selection process

The Larry W. Martin & Joyce B. O'Neill Fellow will be selected by a college selection committee with representation from each of the seven departments in the College of Science. The selection committee will consider the significance of computational modeling in the research of the applicant, the significant research accomplishments of the applicant, significant achievements and awards received by the applicant and the letter of recommendation from the department.

Accepting the fellowship

If selected, the fellow must be prepared to do the following

1. Be enrolled in 12 credits per term in the academic year and at least 3 credits in summer during their fellowship period.
2. At the end of the fellowship, the fellow will share with the donors, a research summary and thank-you note explaining how the fellowship transformed their studies and research. Complete this survey 30 days after the fellowship has ended.
3. Additionally, the fellow must adhere to University policies outlined in the acceptance letter. For more information on the guidelines and acceptance letters see the Graduate School Fellowship guidelines.

Fellowship recipients

2023-24: Abdikani Omar Farah, Chemistry
Abdikani's work in computational organic Chemistry involves better understanding chemical reaction mechanisms and investigating factors that influence the selectivity of reactions. Read more.

2022-23: Nima Laal, Physics
Nima's work involves computational modeling of pulsar timing data and gravitational-wave signal simulations. Read more.

2021-22: Christine Tataru, Microbiology
Christine uses natural language-inspired algorithms to define and apply generalizable rules about how gut microbiomes impact their human hosts' health. Read more.

2020-21: Bryan Lynn, Integrative Biology
Bryan uses mathematical modeling to investigate how cooperation within groups evolves and is sustained when the groups are dynamically formed. Read more about his research.

2019-20: Choah Shin, Mathematics
Choah's research focuses on the theoretical and applied aspects of modeling processes associated with the sub-sea sediments of methane hydrate, an energy resource with documented impact on the climate. Read more.

2018-19: Courtney Armour, Microbiology
Courtney uses computational modeling to analyze the gut microbiome with its trillions of bacteria. Read more about her research.