Graduate Awards

Each year, Illinois Physics recognizes student excellence at a special awards banquet. In 2019, the Fortieth Physics-on-the-Campus Luncheon was held at the Illini Union on Wednesday, April 24. Many of the awards are made possible through the generous support of our alumni.

  • Charles P. Slichter Fellowship
    This fellowship supports stellar graduate students who are engaged in promising original research. The fellowship was created by family, friends, and colleagues of Charles P. Slichter to recognize and carry forward his tremendous legacy at the University of Illinois, where he served 57 years on the faculty of the Department of Physics. Slichter exemplified science at its finest—creative, rigorous, curious, and scrupulously honest. He made ground-breaking advances in the fields of condensed matter physics and chemistry and is particularly noted for his pioneering use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to elucidate the structure and behavior of matter at the atomic scale.

  • Donald C. and F. Shirley Jones Fund
    This fund provides fellowship support for an outstanding physics graduate student. It was generously bequeathed by Donald Jones, an industrial physicist, and F. Shirley Jones, an astronomer, who were the parents of the late Lorella M. Jones, the first woman to attain tenure and a full professorship in physics at the U of I.

  • Drickamer Research Fellowship
    This graduate fellowship is awarded to a student who has demonstrated significant ability in research. The fund is named for Harry G. Drickamer, professor of physics, chemistry, and chemical engineering at Illinois and was established by his former students. 

  • Felix T. Adler Award
    This fund recognizes outstanding work by a physics graduate student in the area of nuclear physics or nuclear engineering.  Professor Adler held a joint appointment in Physics and Nuclear Engineering from 1958 until his retirement.

  • Gerald M. Almy Memorial Fund
    This endowed fund, which was created in memory of Gerald Almy, Department Head from 1964-1970, provides support for educational and professional development activities for graduate students.     

  • Giulio Ascoli Award
    This fund supports outstanding work by a graduate student in experimental high energy physics. Giulio Ascoli served the department with distinction from 1950 until his retirement in 1986.  The same student may receive the award for not more than three years. 

  • John Bardeen Award
    This fund supports outstanding work by a graduate student in condensed matter physics or the physics of electronic devices. John Bardeen served as faculty in Physics and Electrical and Computer Engineering from 1951 to 1975. Bardeen was the first person to ever receive two Nobel Prizes in the same field.  

  • L.S. Edelheit Family Biological Physics Fellowship
    This fund shall provide an annual graduate fellowship for an exceptional student in biological physics (experiment or theory).  This Fellowship was established through a generous gift from Illinois alumni, Lonnie and Susan Edelheit.

  • Maurice Goldhaber Research Scholar Award in Nuclear Physics
    The Maurice Goldhaber Research Scholar Award recognizes an outstanding graduate student who consistently demonstrates the highest level of performance in a nuclear physics research program. Maurice Goldhaber (April 18, 1911-May 11, 2011) was a professor of physics at Illinois from 1938 to 1950. His remarkable achievements in research, teaching, and science administration made Dr. Goldhaber one of the world's most distinguished nuclear and particle physicists. The Maurice Goldhaber Research Scholar Award at the University of Illinois was instituted on April 18, 2011, in honor of Dr. Goldhaber's centennial birthday.

  • Renato Bobone Award
    This award recognizes a physics graduate student who has demonstrated academic excellence. In accordance with the donor's wishes, preference is given to Italian citizens. This award was was endowed by alumnus Renato Bobone. 

  • Scott Anderson Award
    This award recognizes the year's outstanding physics teaching or research assistants, and is named after alumnus Dr. Scott Anderson who founded Anderson Physics Laboratories in Urbana in 1944. It was through his initiative as president of our Physics Alumni Association and his generous philanthropy that the Anderson Award was endowed.   Historically this has been given to a TA for outstanding teaching but the award may also be used for an outstanding Research Assistant.

  • Vijay R. Pandharipande Prize in Nuclear Physics
    This prize recognizes the year's outstanding nuclear physics graduate student. Professor Pandharipande served with great distinction on our faculty for 34 years.