University of Richmond graduates chosen for prestigious fellowships

Two recent University of Richmond alumni are receiving a prestigious and selective international student research fellowship through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. This program provides funding for pre-doctoral students who have demonstrated exceptional talent and innovation in research to complete their graduate studies.

Robert Heler, class of 2012, and Smaranda Craciun, class of 2011, both from Romania, are among the 46 students from 24 countries in the program.

HHMI established this program to help international students in U.S. graduate schools who may have difficulty obtaining government and grant funding reserved for U.S. citizens to support their studies. Students receive $43,000 during each year of the fellowship.

Heler received his bachelor of sciences degree from University of Richmond with a double major in computer science and biochemistry. At Richmond, his work revolved around understanding how ion channels alter their function in response to changing environmental stimuli. He is completing his graduate work at Rockefeller University.

“This is a prestigious scholarship for science connoisseurs,” Heler said.

Craciun graduated from Richmond in 2011 with a major in chemistry and minor in mathematics. Her research focused on organic and theoretical and computational chemistry. She is now studying at Harvard University.

“Receiving the HHMI fellowship is a great honor, and it has given me a lot of confidence in pursuing the final stages of my project,” Craciun said.

"At UR, both Robby and Sam participated in faculty-led research programs that emphasize some of the best teaching that we do for undergraduate students,” said Dr. Linda Boland, biology department chair. “UR embraces early and continuing research opportunities with faculty mentors. We are very proud that two of our recent graduates have been honored with these competitive awards from the HHMI. "

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