Jon Cohen ’25, a biophysical chemistry Ph.D. student at Cornell University, was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRFP). It provides three years of funding, “and its prestige could open doors to future funding and opportunities,” says Cohen, who was a chemistry and mathematics double major at Muhlenberg while earning a secondary education certification in both areas of study.
“These fellowships are incredibly competitive — thousands and thousands apply and only 10% are funded,” says Professor of Chemistry Keri Colabroy, with whom Cohen conducted research as an undergraduate and co-authored a peer-reviewed publication.
Muhlenberg gave me both the technical foundation and the practical skills to manage the demands of graduate school.
Cohen, who now works in the lab of Cornell Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Nozomi Ando, first learned of this fellowship during his senior year at Muhlenberg. Colabroy requires all of her Experimental Biochemistry students to write a mock proposal for the NSF GRFP as part of their final project. When it came time to apply as a grad student, Cohen was familiar with the process of structuring and articulating a research plan and was able to submit a strong, cohesive proposal.
This was just one way Muhlenberg prepared him to thrive in grad school: “The rigor of my course load and the number of commitments I balanced as an undergraduate helped me build strong time management and organizational skills,” Cohen says. This spring, he took three courses, taught two undergraduate lab sections, and conducted research, “which feels very comparable to my workload at Muhlenberg. … Muhlenberg gave me both the technical foundation and the practical skills to manage the demands of graduate school.”
