University of Maryland student wins prestigious Winston Churchill scholarship

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The Winston Churchill Foundation of the United States recently announced the selection of 17 Churchill Scholars, including Indian-American Pavan Ravindra, for the 2021- 22 academic year.

Ravindra, a senior at the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) will receive full funding to pursue a one-year master’s degree at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

The award -valued at around $60,000- covers full tuition, a stipend, travel costs, and the chance to apply for a $2,000 special research grant.

Ravindra was chosen from 125 nominations from 80 participating institutions, according to the foundation.

“Cambridge has attracted researchers at the forefront of many different directions in theoretical and computational chemistry, and this scholarship gives me the chance to learn directly from these scientists,” Ravindra said in a press release from the University of Maryland.

He added that receiving this scholarship is a testament to the mentorship he received at Maryland, and is very excited for the upcoming year at Cambridge.

The Churchill Scholarship will allow Ravindra to join the ICE Group at the University of Cambridge. There, Ravindra will work with Angelos Michaelides, the 1968 Professor of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, in the field of chemical simulations, according to the press release.

“Pavan has excelled in the classroom and in his independent research efforts, with two published papers and an algorithm that is already being used by other researchers in academia and industry,” said CMNS Dean Amitabh Varshney.

He believes the scholarship will offer Ravindra unique opportunities to deepen his interests at the intersection of biochemistry and computer science.

Ravindra, who is from Clarksville, Maryland, previously received a 2020 Goldwater Scholarship, a citation from the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College, a Banneker/Key Scholarship, and he was named a 2020 Merrill Presidential Scholar.