Scholars – OURS National Scholarships

National Scholarship Recipients 2026-2027

Arul Banerjea Goldwater Scholarship

Arul Banerjea (’27, Bioengineering/Molecular & Cellular Biology) is passionate about understanding the biophysical mechanisms underlying gene regulation. In the Tjian-Darzacq lab, he uses single-molecule imaging and live-cell assays to investigate how Rett syndrome-associated chromatin regulators function at the molecular level. Beyond the bench, Arul works as a Resident Assistant and as Treasurer for Kesem Berkeley, where he has spearheaded efforts to raise over $270,000 to support children affected by a parent’s cancer. In his free time, Arul likes to lift, teach, and work at RockMed events. He hopes to pursue […]

Aidan Chan Critical Language Scholarship

Aidan Morgan Chan (’26, Economics/Statistics/Linguistics) will travel to Gwangju, South Korea to pursue advanced study of the Korean language. His research interests span cryptography, cybersecurity, and linguistic forensics. Having studied Latin, Japanese, Chinese, and Russian, he brings a broad multilingual foundation to his academic work, approaching language as a structured system embedded with cultural and historical meaning. He aims to leverage this linguistic depth in his development as a defense engineer, with particular attention to the cultural and semiotic dimensions of language as they intersect with technology and security.

Tyler Hou Hertz Fellowship

Tyler Hou (’26, Math/Computer Science) will begin doctoral studies at Princeton University in fall 2026, specializing in programming languages. At Berkeley, Tyler worked on the Hydro Project as part of Sky Lab, and later was advised by Max Willsey. His research has focused on developing frameworks and tools to help computer scientists better specify, reason about, and optimize distributed systems. Tyler grew up in New England and attended Phillips Exeter Academy, where he discovered a love for poetry and choral music. He runs and sings tenor in Berkeley’s Chamber Chorus.

Su Kim Soros Fellowship

Su Kim (’18, Geography) was born and raised in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from South Korea. At UC Berkeley, she earned her B.A. in geography with departmental high honors and a minor in global poverty and practice. While a student, she interned with local abolitionist organizations Justice Now and Californians United for a Responsible Budget, and studied Spanish and Mexican history in Mexico through the Autonomous University of Social Movements. As a Robert and Colleen Haas Scholar (’17-18), she conducted independent research under the supervision of Professor Victoria Robinson, […]

Kavish Kondap Goldwater Scholarship

Kavish Kondap (’28, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science) is passionate about imbuing robots with human-like intelligence. He currently works in Professor Ken Goldberg’s AUTOLab, applying cutting-edge machine learning techniques to enable robots to learn from their experiences. He hopes that his work will one day help replace human labor for dangerous or mundane tasks and provide fully autonomous assistants for home and industrial settings. Outside the lab, Kavish is passionate about teaching — he has served on course staff for CS61A, Berkeley’s largest CS course, and lectured for a student-run […]

Devon Krish Goldwater Scholarship

Devon Krish (’27, Bioengineering & EECS) is deeply interested in using computers and machine learning to decipher the human brain. He has spent the past six years working with Dr. Jon Kleen at UCSF, where his research focuses on decoding neural signals from high-density electrodes surgically implanted directly on and within the brain to better understand epilepsy and cognition. Devon aims to pursue an MD/PhD and a career in neurosurgery, while developing technologies to improve the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders. In his free time, he enjoys writing music […]

Anna Lieggi CBYX

Anna Lieggi (’26, Political Science/Global Studies), an incoming CBYX Young Professionals Fellow, will spend a year in Germany serving as a cultural ambassador. At UC Berkeley, she has worked as a research assistant through URAP under Professor Brookman and through SSRP under PhD candidate Nadia Almasalkhi, focusing on welfare policy trends and diaspora political participation. Beyond campus, Anna has spent 300+ hours at the San Francisco Superior Court, where she provided free legal assistance to low-income, self-represented litigants. These experiences have motivated her to attend law school following her year […]

Kristie Moore Strauss Scholarship

Kristie Moore (’27, Global Studies) is a Mexican-Slovak American from Southern California. Her academic interests include conflict, mass atrocity prevention, and migration, with a specific regional concentration in Central Asia and the South Caucasus. She is an alumna of the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) program, a student researcher for UC Berkeley’s Human Rights Investigations Lab, and the founder of Female Leaders of the Americas, a nonprofit that works to empower young women from North, South, and Central America. Most recently, she spent a year in Dushanbe, Tajikistan intensively studying Persian […]

Carolyn Nguyen Churchill Scholarship

Carolyn Nguyen (’26, Molecular and Cell Biology/Business Administration) is passionate about advancing next-generation therapeutics. At UC Berkeley, she conducts research in the lab of Dr. James Nuñez, applying CRISPR-based technologies to modulate gene expression and develop targeted epigenome editing tools. As a Churchill Scholar, Carolyn will pursue an MPhil in Medical Science at the University of Cambridge, where she will study how the tumor microenvironment influences cancer progression and treatment response, with the goal of informing new therapeutic strategies. With a dual background in science and business, she is especially […]

Sydney Roberts Schwarzman Scholars Program

Sydney Roberts (’24, Political Science and African American Studies) is drawn to service and empowering others. Currently, she works at EMILYs List, helping elect Democratic, pro-choice women to political office nationwide. At Cal, she served as student body president and secured a $195,000 grant for students to host multicultural events on campus. Sydney attributes her passion for global conflict resolution to what she learned while leading students during her term as president. She hopes to build on her leadership skills as a Schwarzman scholar and pursue crisis diplomacy. She is […]

Bella Santos Udall Scholarship

Bella Santos (’27, Conservation and Resource Studies/Public Policy) is an elected ASUC Senator and UC Office of the President Climate Action Fellow committed to advancing environmental justice and a just transition to clean energy. As Eco Senator, she leads Berkeley’s Eco Office, coordinating more than sixty student organizers across climate, sustainability, and environmental justice campaigns. As a UCOP Fellow, she serves as the undergraduate representative on the UC Global Climate Leadership Council and Sustainability Steering Committee, elevating student voice in systemwide climate policy. Raised in San Diego, Bella began organizing […]

Carina Tu Princeton in Asia

Carina Tu (’26, Public Health/Integrative Biology) will serve as a Leadership Resident Fellow with the Harpswell Foundation in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. A first-generation Vietnamese American student, she is driven by her experiences growing up alongside her mother, navigating language and systemic barriers, which have shaped her commitment to advancing women’s access to education and addressing inequities in health and social systems. Carina’s work bridges public health, education, mental health, and community-based practice. She supports immigrant communities through bilingual case management, conducts research on language access in safety-net health systems, and […]

Vivasvan Vykunta Soros Fellowship

Vivasvan Vykunta (’20, MCB) was born in Berkeley, California to parents who immigrated from India. Vivasvan is currently in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MD-PhD) at UCSF and studies fundamental mechanisms that regulate how immune cells detect and respond to target proteins, hoping to apply this deeper understanding to develop more effective therapeutics. As an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, Vivasvan studied Molecular and Cell Biology with an emphasis in Immunology. He credits the supportive mentors he found at Berkeley–Astar Winoto, Robert Beatty, and Lok Siu, among many others–for nurturing his […]

Dan Zhu Knight-Hennessy Scholarship

Dan Zhu (‘23, Data Science and Business Administration) is pursuing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business and an MS in Community Health and Prevention Research at Stanford School of Medicine. Dan aspires to build innovative healthcare systems and technologies that improve quality of life for people and communities. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Dan worked at Boston Consulting Group to improve care and utilization management programs for America’s largest health insurers, reducing prior authorization requirements and expanding care access for 35 million people. He has also designed behavioral […]