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MacAdam Graduate Excellence Fellowship

The MacAdam Graduate Excellence Fellowship in Physics was established in 2015 to support the most talented graduate students with outstanding potential in research. Winners so far have been:

  • 2020-21 Sinong Liu
  • 2019-20 Maryam Dehghanian
  • 2018-19 Nisheeta Desai
  • 2016-17 Jonathan D'Emidio
  • 2015-16 Barry Farmer

The 2020–21 MacAdam Fellow, Sinong Liu, came to UK after earning an undergraduate degree at Fudan University, Shanghai, China. Her research is on quantum entanglement, which plays a key role in gauge-gravity duality. She said, “A zillion thanks for awarding me the fellowship. It is very helpful. Almost at the same time when I was awarded the fellowship, I received an offer from the KITP [Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at UC-Santa Barbara] graduate fellow program. With the help of the MacAdam fellowship, I had more time to participate the activities in KITP and learned a lot. Furthermore, with the support of the fellowship, I wrote a paper with my advisor, Prof. Das, and collaborators in TIFR [total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy]. The fellowship let me focus on my research during the semester. As a fifth-year graduate student, I am thinking about my career in the future. To visit active and creative researchers in other institutes and to engage in more research projects, which are supported by MacAdam Fellowship, plays a very positive role in my career.”

The 2019-20 winner, Maryam Dehghanian, has been the subject of two noteworthy profiles in UK news for her achievements:

Maryam Dehghanian receiving the award

“I had the privilege of meeting Prof. Keith MacAdam just a month before his passing," said D’Emidio, the 2016-17 recipient, "I truly admired his passion for science and his drive to inspire younger generations of students at all levels. I have the honor of receiving the MacAdam graduate fellowship, which allows me to significantly advance my research in theoretical condensed matter physics and build the foundation of my future scientific career. Meanwhile, many more students have benefitted from the awe-inspiring view of the nighttime sky from the MacAdam Observatory. Gifts like these are invaluable to our department and they have an immeasurable impact on the students that they reach.”