Selected Beckman Scholars must:

• Provide a headshot within 3 days of selection notification
• Consent to have their transcript released to the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation
• Remain in good academic standing
• Complete the Honors College Research Skills Workshops Certificate Program
• Conduct an honors thesis and participate in the Thesis Pitch Competition
• Present at the Georgia State Undergraduate Research Conference
• Meet with the Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships to discuss the feasibility of submitting at least one national fellowship or scholarship application
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to exemplary scientific and academic ethics as set forth in Arnold O. Beckman’s Rules for Success

• Applications are due by March 1, 2023, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.
• Finalists will be notified and invited to an interview preparation workshop in late March/early April.
• Finalist interviews will be conducted in early- to mid-April.
• Selected Beckman Scholars will be announced in late April/early May.

The Beckman Scholars Program at Georgia State pledges to uphold the principles and values set forth in the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy.

Read the full policy here.

The Beckman Scholars Program selection committee looks at the student applicant’s overall GPA, including transfer credits.  

No. Only students majoring in biology, chemistry, or neuroscience are eligible to apply. 

No. Eligible student applicants must be enrolled at Georgia State and ready to start as a Beckman Scholar in Summer 2023.  

Yes. Students who intend to conduct research as part of their medical career are eligible. However, the onus is on student applicants to provide convincing proof of their intent to conduct research. 

Yes. You may apply again if you meet eligibility criteria, including the stated graduation date requirement.  

Sarah Brosnan is a professor of psychology, neuroscience and philosophy. Her research explores the behavioral, cognitive and hormonal mechanisms underlying decision-making across a variety of species, particularly non-human primates, and how these decisions are influenced by ecology and the social environment.

Daniel Cox is a professor of biology and neuroscience. Research in the Cox Lab is focused on dissecting the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the specification and modulation of neural connectivity with an emphasis on the control of dendrite development and circuitry driving nociceptive pain in Drosophila in the context of both health and neurological disease.

Giovanni Gadda is a Distinguished University Professor of chemistry. His research group investigates mechanistic enzymology of redox enzymes, with a specific interest in flavin-dependent enzymes and how enzymes can influence the energetics of reaction intermediates and transition states.

Jordan Hamm is an assistant professor of neuroscience, and his lab conducts basic research on mammalian cortical circuits with paradigms and approaches designed to provide deeper insight into neuropsychiatric diseases, such as schizophrenia.

Maged Henary is an associate professor of chemistry, and his group is interested in synthesizing pharmaceutical agents for therapeutic use and imaging technology, such as cancer imaging dyes, G-4 DNA binders, invisible markers, and fluorescent probes. The Henary group also focuses on developing pH sensitive dyes, donor acceptor fluorophores and solid-state dye sensitized solar cells.

Angela Mabb is an assistant professor of neuroscience, and her research uses and develops molecular biology methods and tools to explore cell signaling pathways involved in nervous system function and disease.

Anne Murphy is professor of biology, gerontology and neuroscience. Her research focuses on the impact of sex and age on pain and opiate responsiveness as well as the impact of early life experience on adult pain and stress responsiveness.

Marise Parent is a professor of neuroscience and psychology. Her lab uses a rodent model to explore the brain mechanisms through which memory controls eating behavior and how obesity disrupts these neural controls and increases the risk and severity of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Erin Tone is an associate professor of psychology, and her research investigates the ways in which anxious people behave in social situations and the cognitive, emotional, and neural processes that contribute to both their adaptive and their maladaptive interactions.

Desiree Wanders is an assistant professor of nutrition and neuroscience. The Wanders lab uses rodent and cell culture models to study dietary and pharmacologic interventions for obesity-related metabolic dysfunction.

Jenny Yang is a Regents’ Professor of chemistry, and her lab uses bioinformatics, chemistry, imaging, cell biology and animal models to identify calcium binding proteins, visualize calcium signaling pathways, establish the molecular basis of metal toxicity, and identify the molecular basis of human diseases. Her group also develops biosensors, and creates MRI contrast agents and therapeutic drugs to diagnose and cure human diseases.