WASHINGTON, D.C. – Universities Research Association (URA) is pleased to announce that 43 graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty from URA member universities have been selected as awardees for the Spring 2026 cycle of the URA Visiting Scholars Program (VSP).
These researchers, representing URA member research institutions, will travel to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) to conduct pivotal research in particle physics, accelerator technology, and quantum science.
The Spring 2026 cohort will tackle a diverse array of projects, contributing to Fermilab’s status as a global hub for scientific discovery and innovation.
Spring 2026 Recipients
Aaron Wang, University of Illinois at Chicago
Akash Kafle, Northern Illinois University
Amartya Sengupta, The University at Buffalo, SUNY
Angela White, University of Chicago
Avik Ghosh, Iowa State University
Brenna McConnell, Indiana University
Christopher Sauer, University of California, Santa Barbara
Chuyue Fang, University of California, Santa Barbara
Daniel Gaytan-Villarreal, Carnegie Mellon University
DeMario Ross, Michigan State University
Dustin Keller, University of Virginia
Francesco Miguel Rodriguez, University of Pisa
Giovanni Chiello, University of Pisa
Greg Fehmer, Wayne State University
Halit Bagdu, University of Iowa
Hanjue Zhu, University of Chicago
Hussain Kitagawa, University of Pisa
Jordan Roberts, University of Virginia
Juan Duarte Quiros, Purdue University
Jure Zupan, University of Cincinnati
Kyle Fielman, Michigan State University
Laura Fields, University of Notre Dame
Lingqiang He, Purdue University
Lucas Venetoulias, University of California, San Diego
Maria Gabriela Manuel Alves, Illinois Institute of Technology
Matteo Marchegiani, Carnegie Mellon University
Matthew Citron, University of California, Davis
Md Forhad Hossain, University of Virginia
Mohammad Adil Aman, Florida State University
Nicola Sommaggio, University of Pisa
Noah Knutson, University of Mississippi
Orgho Neogi, University of Iowa
Reshma Menon Raghunandanan, University of Virginia
Rikab Gambhir, University of Cincinnati
Ryan McLaughlin, Boston University
Sauvik Mondal, Northern Illinois University
Seokju Chung, Columbia University
Sneha Vireshwar Dixit, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Valdis Slokenbergs, Texas Tech University
Wooyoung Jang, University of Texas at Arlington
Yihui Lai, Princeton University
Yikai Wu, Stony Brook University
Yufan Qie, Columbia University
ABOUT VSP
The URA Visiting Scholars Program (VSP), established in 2007, continues to play a vital role in advancing discovery by supporting graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and faculty from URA member institutions in pursuing research at Fermilab. Funded through contributions from URA member universities, the program enables visits ranging from short-term to year-long research stays at the Lab and supports Fermilab group activities such as workshops, conferences, and summer schools.
ABOUT URA
Universities Research Association (URA) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with a mission to augment the exchange of expertise between universities and national labs to accelerate innovation and scientific discovery. URA is an academic consortium composed of over 90 premier research universities across the United States, United Kingdom, and Italy headquartered in Washington, D.C; a parent company in the management and operation of Fermilab; a member of Honeywell’s National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS) for the management and operation of Sandia National Laboratories; and a financial steward for the National Science Foundation for nation’s participation in the Pierre Auger Cosmic Ray Observatory in Argentina.
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For More Information About URA:
URA Communications – communications@ura-hq.org
For More Information about the VSP Program:
URA Visiting Scholars Program – VSP@ura-hq.org