Nuclear Science Lab researcher and ND Department of Physics and Astronomy undergraduate student Sydney Coil has been selected as an Honorable Mention for the 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. Sydney worked as an undergraduate with Prof. Dan Bardayan and Dr. Patrick O'Malley on conversion of the TwinSol radioactive ion beam facility to TriSol and its subsequent use to study ¹⁸F production in novae. Sydney has accepted admission into the graduate program in nuclear physics at Michigan State University.

Inaugurated in 1952, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding students in the NSF-supported STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. It is the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind.