Maggie Ward, a first-year doctoral student in inorganic chemistry, was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF-GRFP). She works in the lab of Assistant Professor J. Nathan Hohman, focusing on crystallography and working is to synthesize and characterize metal-organic chalcogenolates, a class of semiconducting nanomaterials. The lab has primarily synthesized and studied silver materials, but her focus is currently those made from other metal sources, such as gold and copper.

“Being awarded the GRFP means the world to me because it’ll help ensure some stability over the next few years for me,” says Ward. “As a neurodivergent first-generation student who was incredibly poor during my undergraduate studies, it felt like I had no idea what I was doing and could barely focus on my degree. Having a guarantee that I’ll be able to focus on my research for the next few years is life-changing for me.”