UCI Beckman Scholars Program
About the UCI Beckman Scholars Program
The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation is an independent, non-profit Foundation established in 1977 for the purpose of supporting leading edge research in the fields of chemistry and life sciences, broadly interpreted. UCI has been selected as one of the hosts for the prestigious Beckman Scholars Program, a 15-month mentored research experience for exceptional UCI undergraduate students who are doing research in chemistry and life sciences. This Beckman Scholars Program provides an inspiring, multi-disciplinary research environment, individualized mentoring, ample communication and leadership experiences, and time management/life skills coaching for the Beckman Scholars.
Each year, 1-3 outstanding students will be selected as the Beckman Scholars based on their academic record, quality of previous research experience, and potential to become prominent research leaders in the chemical and life sciences. Each research term consists of 15 contiguous months starting at the beginning of summer, continuing during the following academic year, and continuing further for the next summer:
- 2020-21 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2020, Academic Year 2020-21, Summer 2021 [Kimberly Zhang and Elliot Einstein]
- 2021-22 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2021, Academic Year 2021-22, Summer 2022 [Lucy Yang]
- 2022-23 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2022, Academic Year 2022-23, Summer 2023 [Justin Kwon, Arjun Pamidi and Parker Smith]
- 2023-24 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2023, Academic Year 2023-24, Summer 2024 [Jonathan Le and Ben Rose]
- 2024-25 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2024, Academic Year 2024-25, Summer 2025 [Avisa Charmchi and Grant Lai ]
- 2025-26 Beckman Scholars: Summer 2025, Academic Year 2025-26, Summer 2026 [applications will open in late 2024]
The Scholars will be supported by a $6,800 stipend in summer 1, $4,600 stipend during the academic year, and $6,800 stipend in summer 2. In addition they will get $2,800 towards research-related travel and supplies.
Scholars must commit to the entire 15-month time period to be eligible to receive an award. The Scholars may choose to work with any of the 15 faculty Mentors listed in the table below. All of these Faculty Mentors are distinguished by their high level of scientific excellence and research productivity, exceptionally strong commitment to undergraduate education, and strong undergraduate researcher mentorship record. The 2023-26 Faculty Mentors include:
| Mentor | Department | Research Area |
|---|---|---|
| Amal Alachkar | Pharm Sci | Molecular pharmacology |
| Scott Atwood | Development & Cell Biology | Evolution of drug resistance |
| Claudia Benavente | Pharm Sci | Epigenetics in childhood cancers |
| Olivier Civelli | Pharm Sci | Novel neuroactive molecules |
| Vy Dong | Chemistry | Enantioselective catalysis and natural product synthesis |
| Celia Goulding | Pharm Sci | Structural biology |
| Rachel Martin | Chemistry | Biophysical chemistry and NMR |
| Sergey Nizkorodov | Chemistry | Chemistry of organic air pollutants |
| James Nowick | Chemistry | Peptide chemistry in Alzheimer’s disease and antibiotics |
| Joe Patterson | Chemistry | Chemistry of soft materials |
| Jennifer Prescher | Chemistry | Chemical tools for noninvasive imaging of biology |
| Olga Razorenova | Molecular Biology and Biochemistry | Cancer biology |
| Sam Schriner | Pharm Sci | Biochemistry of aging processes |
| Gregory Weiss | Chemistry | Chemical biology tools for enzymology and molecular recognition |
| Jenny Yang | Chemistry | Catalysis for renewable fuels |