Inspiring Future STEM Leaders
Now Open: 2025-26 LLF Fellowship Application Window
Please direct any questions to: [email protected], and allow 24 hours for a response.
Application Deadline: Friday, January 10, 2025 at Midnight PST.
LLF Fellowship Opportunities
Fellowship Application
Opening the Door to STEM Experiences & Research
The Livermore Lab Foundation (LLF) is committed to ‘opening the door to the future’ by inspiring the next generation of STEM leaders. LLF supports STEM opportunities that connect aspiring scientists and engineers with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) premier resources and mentors. Our STEM programs are focused on fellowships and research stipends aimed at fostering the academic and professional journey of undergraduate and graduate students, with a focus on those historically underrepresented in the field, low-income/financial need, and/or first-generation college students. Increasingly, we seek to place LLF Fellows with Lab teams engaged in the key research areas we fund – namely, climate resilience, neurodegenerative disease, and fusion innovation.
LLF provides direct student funding, allowing more time for research, studies, and ultimate success in scientific careers, and supports fellows with assigned Lab mentors and access to LLNL facilities and resources. We also offer an enriching Fellows Week program tailored for our annual cohort of fellows to facilitate connections, knowledge sharing, skill building and career development. Our program goes beyond building students’ technical skills and exposure to world-class science; it seeks to empower our fellows to consider a rewarding and impactful STEM career and contributes to the nation’s critical STEM pipeline needed to solve issues of national and global importance.
A special thank you to our academic and professional partners, STEM donors, and LLNL colleagues, who make these programs possible!
2024-25 Fellowship Cohort
University of California, Merced
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow, Hamad Afzal, who is studying Physics at UC Merced. Hamad’s project focused on Experimental Equations of State for Exoplanets Interior Structure.
Northwestern University
Carbon Fellow
Meet Carbon Fellow, Andrew DeMello, who is a first year Chemistry graduate student at Northwestern University. While at LLNL, Andrew worked on synthesis and characterization of materials with increased oxidative stability for CO2 capture applications.
University of California, Berkeley
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow, Kyla de Villa, who is studying Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley. Kyla’s project focused on Shock Synthesis of Prebiotic Compounds.
University of California, Berkeley
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Alexis Diaz, who is studying Applied Mathematics with a Classical Mechanics Emphasis at UC Berkeley. This past summer, Alexis worked on modeling non-Maxwellian electron distribution functions induced by strong compression of plasmas at the National Ignition Facility.
California State University, Bakersfield
Davis Family Carbon Fellow
University of California, Merced
UC Climate Entrepreneur Fellow
Meet UC Climate Entrepreneur, Jose Martinez who is studying Mechanical Engineering at UC Merced. Jose’s project focused on Integrating Efficient Cooling to In-Air Drop Encapsulation Apparatus (IDEA).
University of California, San Diego
UC Climate Entrepreneur Fellow
Meet UC Climate Entrepreneur, Tianshi Feng who is in a PhD Mechanical Engineering program at UC San Diego. Tianshi’s project focused on Scalable Additive Manufacturing of Reinforced Nanoporous Membranes for Carbon Neutrality.
Stanford University
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Jhonnatan Gama Vazquez, who is a PhD candidate studying Physics at Stanford University. Jhonnatan’s project focused on field-particle correlation analysis in PIC simulations of laser-matter interactions.
University of California, Merced
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Sheindel Gamerberg, who is studying both Physics and Bioengineering at UC Merced. Sheindel’s project focused on Entanglement Entropy, Confinement, and Quantum Spin Chains.
University of California, Irvine
UC Climate Entrepreneur Fellow
Meet UC Climate Entrepreneur, Juliana Gonzalez who is studying Enviromental Science and Policy at UC Irvine. Juliana’s project focused on Direct Conversion of Air to Ammonia and Nitric Acid via Advanced Manufactured Electrochemical Reactor.
Arizona State University
John S. Foster Jr. Undergraduate Fellow
Meet our John S. Foster Jr. Undergraduate Fellow, Noah Gonzalez, studying Physics at Arizona State University. This summer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Noah worked on Validating X Ray Effects with simulations and using Micro CTs for non destructive evaluation. Learn more about this program here.
Bakersfield College
BC Industrial Automation Fellow
Meet BC Industrial Automation Fellow, Eric Hall who is studying Industrial Automation at Bakersfield College. Eric’s project focused on MTS and Site 300 Support through Computerized Manufacturing.
Bakersfield College
BC Industrial Automation Fellow
Meet BC Industrial Automation Fellow, Wyatt Hunter who is studying Industrial Automation at Bakersfield College. Wyatt’s project focused on Supporting the LLNL Mission Through Electronics Fabrication.
University of California, Berkeley
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Tanja Kovacevic, who is studying Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkeley. Tanja’s project focused on the equation of state model for iron-nickel mixtures at high energy density conditions pertinent to Earth’s core.
San Jose State University
Data Science Fellow
Meet Data Science Fellow, Benjamin Le, who is studying Computer Science at San Jose State University. Over the summer, Benjamin worked on applying deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to identify well symbols on old oil field maps. This project is part of DOE’s CATALOG program.
University of California, Merced
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow KangHong Li, who is studying Phyics with an emphasis in Astrophysics at UC Merced. Kanghong’s project focused on Astrometry to Determine Accurate Pointing of Telescopes on the Space Station.
New Mexico State University
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow, Johnah Madrid who is studying Mechanical Engineering at New Mexico State University. Jonah’s project focused on Exploring off-Hugoniot states using shock-reshock experiments.
San Jose State University
Early Internship Program Fellow
Meet Maili Malabey, an Early Internship Program Fellow at LLNL. She is studying Computer Science at San Jose State. Maili’s project this summer focused on Digital Logic and Circuitry.
Stanford University
Fusion Fellow
Meet Fusion Fellow, Chenkai Mao, who is a fifth year PhD in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. This past summer, Chenkai worked to advance additive manufacturing of laser target components by developing a special approach to meet the stringent engineering demands of inertial confinement fusion targets.
University of California, Merced
UC Climate Entrepreneur Fellow
Meet Tahmid, HEDS Fellow, who is a University of Maryland graduate student. This past summer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he conducted research on Lithium Fluoride-water interaction for advanced laser-driven dynamic compression experiments.
University of California, San Diego
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Isabella Martinez, who is studying Chemical Engineering at UC San Diego. Isabella worked on Modeling Ion-Ion Interactions to Demonstrate Continuum Lowering and Banding in Plasma this summer at LLNL.
University of Alabama
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Izaiha Martinez, who is studying Phyics with a concentration of Astronomy at the University of Alabama. Izaiha’s project focused on Investigating Low-Mass Low-Temperature White Dwarfs: The Influence of H-Opacity.
Columbia University
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Devan Massin, who is studying Applied Physics at Colombia University. Devan’s project focused on Resistive Collimation of Electron for Fast Ignition. Devan’s project focused on data driven atomic physics at high rep rates.
Pepperdine University
Early Internship Program Fellow
Meet Rebecca Munzar, an Early Internship Program Fellow at LLNL. She is studying Mathematics at Pepperdine Unviersity. Rebecca’s project this summer focused on Digital Logic and Circuitry.
California State University, Bakersfield
Davis Family Physics Fellow
Meet Davis Family Physics Fellow, Justin Peterson, who studies Physics at California State University, Bakersfield. At Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, he worked on Physics with Phones, a project aimed at giving students and educators opportunities to engage with physics using the sensors in smartphones to conduct experiments.
University of California, Merced
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Derrick Pickrel, who is studying Physics at UC Merced. Derrick’s project focused on X-ray spectral emissions from blackhole accretion disks.
University of California, Berkeley
SIAM Fellow
Meet our Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Undergraduate Fellow, Ethan Ramirez, who is studying Electrical Engineering Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley. This past summer at LLNL, he drove advancements in critical material recovery using autonomous systems, robotics, and machine learning.
University of Alabama
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Jeremiah Reynoso, who is studying Physics with a concentration in Astronomy at the University of Alabama. Jeremiah’s project focused on Looking on the Inside of Materials Using Laser-Driven Neutron Beams.
University of California, Santa Cruz
Early Internship Program Fellow
Meet Harshitha Sarathy, an Early Internship Program Fellow at LLNL. She is studying Computer Science at UC Santa Cruz. Harshitha’s project this summer focused on Digital Logic and Circuitry.
University of Nevada, Reno
Fusion Fellow
Meet Fusion Fellow Jaya Sicard, a Physics and Engineering Physics student at the University of Nevada, Reno, and an active U.S. Air Force member. This summer, she researched the spatial profile of laser-generated ions using nuclear activation.
University of Rochester
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Matthew Signor, who is studying Physics at the University of Rochester. Matthew’s project focused on a pathway towards thermal conductivity measurements at HED conditions.
Arizona State University
Life Sciences Fellow
Meet Life Sciences Fellow, Amrit Singh Johal (AJ), who is studying Business Data Analytics, Molecular Biosciences & Biotechnology and Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. This summer, Amrit researched bioenergy relevant algal-bacterial interactions in biofuel ponds, and tracked metabolites using imaging and stable isotope probing.
Arizona State University
Shuler Life Sciences Fellow
Meet Shuler Life Sciences Fellow, Prayagee Rajesh Songhela, who is studying biomedical Sciences at Arizona State University. This summer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Prayagee worked to understand the role of the enzyme Acetylcholinesterase in brain disorders and as a therapeutic target.
University of California, Berkeley
HEDS Fellow
Meet HEDS Fellow Mercedes Vasquez, who is studying Earth and Planetary Science at UC Berkley. This past summer Mercedes worked on measuring transport properties at high pressures.
Latest STEM News
This summer, the Livermore Lab Foundation welcomed three college students as Early Intern Program Fellows at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory who graduated from Livermore and Tracy high schools.
The achievement of ignition by LLNL in December 2022 was groundbreaking. Moving beyond that to the nation’s decadal vision of commercial fusion energy will require, among other things, creating pathways and opportunities for the next generation to work in fusion. In 2023, the Foundation launched an inaugural Fusion Fellowship opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to work with the Inertial Fusion Energy team at LLNL. This summer, LLF was pleased to bring two more fusion fellows to the Lab.
UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows
Four UC Climate Entrepreneurs Fellows, recruited by the LLF, came to LLNL for the Summer of 2024 to collaborate with Lab researchers. Students received training, networking, and coaching on entrepreneurship and product development best practices designed to innovate and develop their technology ideas for market.
LLF – SIAM Undergraduate Fellowship
During the summer of 2023, LLF partnered with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics to support undergraduate students seeking to advance their applied mathematics skills in a world-class research facility addressing some of society’s greatest scientific and technological challenges.
Thank you to our STEM program partners!
