UMD Graduate Student Sadia Nourin Awarded 2024 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Department of Computer Science graduate student Sadia Nourin (B.S. ’23, computer science; B.S. ’23, finance) has been awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). This fellowship honors outstanding graduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Across the university, 22 current students and recent alums were among the 2024 fellowship winners announced by the NSF. The college’s nine awardees include four current graduate students and five recent alums.

Nourin's research focuses on security, network privacy and developing methodologies for measuring and circumventing censorship. Her work highlights the critical role of technology in tackling modern issues, and she is deeply engaged in exploring the intersection of technology, global challenges and human rights. In May 2023, Nourin received an Internet Society Pulse Research Fellowship, her proposal standing out among a competitive pool from 35 countries.

"I'm grateful for the NSF GRFP award," Nourin said. "My work is on Internet censorship measurement, aiming to collaborate with users and freedom organizations to understand censorship firsthand. My mentors have been crucial in developing my research curiosity, and I aspire to mentor others in research. The NSF GRFP funding will allow me to focus more on these outreach efforts during my PhD."

NSF fellows receive three years of support, including a $37,000 annual stipend, a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance for tuition and fees, and access to opportunities for professional development.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program 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 U.S. institutions.

Since 1952, NSF has funded more than 60,000 Graduate Research Fellowships out of more than 500,000 applicants. At least 42 fellows have gone on to become Nobel laureates and more than 450 have become members of the National Academy of Sciences.

—Story by Samuel Malede Zewdu, CS Communications