{"id":212853,"date":"2024-04-25T07:15:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T11:15:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=212853"},"modified":"2024-04-23T11:40:51","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T15:40:51","slug":"uconn-junior-named-goldwater-scholar-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/04\/uconn-junior-named-goldwater-scholar-2\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Junior Named Goldwater Scholar"},"content":{"rendered":"

University of Connecticut junior Neo Lin \u201925 (CLAS)<\/strong>, a chemistry major who was raised in Madison, has been named a Goldwater Scholar. The\u00a0Goldwater Scholarship<\/a>\u00a0is considered the nation\u2019s premier scholarship for undergraduates studying math, natural sciences, and engineering.<\/p>\n

The Goldwater Scholarship was established by Congress to honor the late U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, with the purpose of identifying students of outstanding ability and promise, and encouraging them to pursue advanced study and research careers. Scholars receive one- or two-year awards that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Lin is among just 438 students selected nationally for the award this year for the first time from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants.<\/p>\n

Lin has performed research in the lab of associate professor of chemistry Tomoyasu Mani since his freshman year.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch is the reason I was able to get the Goldwater Scholarship,\u201d says Lin. \u201cWithout the help of Dr. Mani and the other students in the lab teaching and training me, I would not have been able to reach where I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Mani, Lin also credits Sam Johnson ’22 (CLAS), who was a UConn undergraduate during Lin\u2019s freshman year and is now a doctoral student at Cal Tech, and current graduate assistant Miu Tsuji as mentors for his success.<\/p>\n

Lin currently leads the lab\u2019s efforts to develop emissive molecular qubits for quantum sensing and control applications. His proposed project aims to provide a new way to control molecular emissivity, which will allow the lab to improve the magnetic sensitivity of molecular qubits.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince he joined my lab in 2021 as a freshman, Neo has consistently impressed me with his dedication to research,\u201d says Mani. \u201cNeo possesses inquisitive thinking, a quality we aim to foster in our students. His first paper began with his keen observation of peculiar behaviors in the molecules he isolated from what we initially deemed a \u2018failed\u2019 reaction. This seemingly minor observation led us to uncover that electron transfer reactions within these molecules do not follow the conventional temperature dependence. Neo is pushing the boundaries of what undergraduate students can accomplish in research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI look forward to Neo’s continued progress for another year at UConn, and I am confident that he will continue to make significant contributions to our research.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin is a consistent Dean\u2019s List student at UConn and was named a University Scholar for the fall of 2023, just one of 15 juniors to earn that distinction.<\/p>\n

He earned an IDEA grant for the 2024-25 academic year, which will support his own research project at UConn.<\/p>\n

Lin was a science undergraduate laboratory intern at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, in the summer of 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor people who want to get into research, I would recommend they get into it as soon as possible,\u201d says Lin. \u201cYou can begin building opportunities right away and as the professors gain trust in you, you will get more opportunities to expand your network.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin originally came to UConn on a pre-medicine track, but decided to concentrate on chemistry the more he found out how much he enjoyed research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you know you are contributing to society, it really feels validating,\u201d says Lin.<\/p>\n

Lin plans on attending graduate school in the chemistry area and would like to work in academia, industry or the government sector in his future.<\/p>\n

He is also a member of the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association at UConn.<\/p>\n

“Neo has continued to grow as a researcher, and I am very glad that the Goldwater committee has recognized this,\u201d says Michael Cunningham, the assistant director of the Office of National Scholarships and Fellowships and UConn\u2019s Goldwater Scholarship campus representative. \u201cI have no doubt that he will eventually become a leader in the field of quantum information science.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/em>Office of National Scholarships & Fellowships<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(ONSF) is a resource for students interested in learning more about the Goldwater Scholarship and other prestigious scholarships and fellowships that support study in all fields. ONSF is part of Enrichment Programs and is open to all graduate and undergraduate students at the University, including students at the regional campuses. For more information about the Goldwater Scholarship and other prestigious, nationally-competitive awards, visit ONSF at\u00a0<\/em>www.onsf.uconn.edu<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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