research news
By ANNA HEINZ
Published May 21, 2025
UB doctoral student Margaret Azu and May graduate Vasilisa Ignatova have received the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) award.
Launched in 1952, the GRFP represents the oldest continuous investment in the nation’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce. As one of the most competitive scholastic programs in the U.S., it recruits high-potential, early-career scientists and engineers, and supports their graduate research training.
“I am honored to receive the NSF GRFP,” says Azu, a PhD student in clinical psychology. “The support provided by this award will allow me to develop my own program of research that will inform my work during the rest of my time in graduate school and beyond.”
Azu received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Amherst College. She then worked as a research fellow studying social processing in autism at the Yale Child Study Center. Her current research at UB centers on how psychophysiology, parent-child relationships and peer interactions together influence children’s social and emotional development.
Ignatova graduated from UB this spring with a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and will pursue a PhD in robotics at Cornell University. Her research focuses on bio-inspired, small-scale robots, with particular interests in tactile communication, swarm intelligence and origami-inspired mechanisms.
“I’m sincerely grateful to be an NSF GRFP recipient,” Ignatova says. “Being a fellow will provide me with greater independence in selecting and pursuing research projects that I am passionate about as I begin my PhD this fall.”
Six UB students received honorable mentions: