Two Northwestern undergraduates have won Goldwater Fellowships, netting them each a $7,500 chunk of gold and a chance to continue their research.

Weinberg junior Josh Veatch and sophomore Ned Calder each won a 2000 Barry M. Goldwater fellowsship, established in 1986 by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to honor former U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater. Announced April 1, the fellowships are awarded to college sophomores and juniors who plan to pursue careers in natural science, engineering and mathematics.

Veatch’s research examines ribonucleic acid’s role in gene expression and the creation of proteins.

Veatch, a Weinberg junior, said that errors in splicing, a key element of protein production, cause several diseases. But researchers cannot identify where in the splicing process the RNA enzymes go wrong, and so are unable to fix the problem.

“It’s a long way off on the horizon, but the hope is to eventually intervene at the genetic level,” Veatch said. “To be able to go in and either cause a gene to be expressed or not be expressed would be effective at treating disease.”

Veatch was nominated for his work with Erik Sontheimer, an assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular and cell biology.

Ned Calder is a fellow fellowship victor.

“I was pretty surprised, mostly because I was a sophomore,” said Calder, a physics major. Calder said his scholarship will be renewed for his junior year, “assuming I stay in school.”

Calder was nominated for his work with Prof. William Halperin of the physics and astronomy department. Calder’s research concerns nuclear magnetic resonance and a particular variety of uranium crystals.

“In my project I work on stabilizing very strong magneic fields,” he said. “For many experiments, very stable magnetic fields means better resolution, better accuracy and better results.”

Calder said his research could lead to improvements in magnetic resonance imaging scans and high temperature superconductors.

“I’m just trying to further our knowledge,” he said of his place in science. “(I like) the way it lets you understand things and see the world in a different way. It’s very beautiful.”

A maximum of 300 Goldwater fellowships are awarded each year to undergraduates nationwide. Each school can nominate up to four students for the prize.

Veatch, who plans to attend graduate school and then work on clinical applications for his RNA research, said there are many reasons for his devotion to science.

“It’s altruistic, it’s intellectual, it’s looking for the truth and the way things work,” he said. “And if it (benefits) people in the long run — or hopefully, the short run — then that’s even better.”