Mecca Muhammad Receives National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program

2017 Apr 18

Mecca Muhammad of Atlanta, a Georgia State University Graduate Student, has received the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award in April 2017.

Muhammad is majoring in Criminal Justice.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions.

The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin, and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is the country's oldest fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

Since 1952, NSF has funded over 50,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants. Currently, 42 Fellows have gone on to become Nobel laureates, and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program has a high rate of doctorate degree completion, with more than 70 percent of students completing their doctorates within 11 years.