2023 Beckman Scholars Program Recipients

Two undergraduates receive Beckman Scholarships for research

Two University of Rochester students have been named recipients of the Beckman Scholars Program, an institional award that allows undergraduates to work with faculty mentors for a 15-month research experience.

Derek Chien ’25 is a chemistry and bioethics double major from Reno, Nevada. He aspires to be an academic physician and is a recent recipient of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, awarded to high-achieving undergraduate science students who are US citizens.

Margaret (“Maggie”) Hoare ’24 is a biochemistry major from Honeoye Falls, a suburb south of Rochester. She previously received the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Award—also known as the “Astronaut Scholarships—for undergraduate students in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

The University is one of 14 institutions selected into the Beckman Scholars Program. As 2023 recipients, Rochester also will award scholarships to two students in each of the next two years, for a total of six Beckman Scholars over three years. Beckman provides $26,000 per scholar-mentor pair. The award is considered prestigious for its funding ($21,000 to the student, $5,000 to the faculty member) and the length of mentored research time it affords students in the fields of chemistry, biological sciences, and interdisciplinary combinations.

The purpose of the Beckman Scholars Program is to help stimulate, encourage, and support research activities by exceptionally talented undergraduates who are pursuing full-time studies at four-year colleges and universities across the US.