Two Weinberg sophomores will receive a prestigious congressionally-funded scholarship, the University announced this month.

Vincent Rinaolo, a chemistry major, and Kimberly Clinch, an integrated science program major, will receive funding from the The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program for their interest in science and potential to pursue research careers.

Sara Anson Vaux, director of Northwestern’s Office of Fellowships and the Goldwater faculty representative, said the award is for sophomores and juniors of great distinction in their fields.

“It’s fairly unusual to get a Goldwater as second-year students,” Vaux said. “It’s a research-heavy scholarship for scientists and engineers.”

About 300 students across the country receive the award each year. Each recipient can receive up to $7,500 for eligible undergraduate expenses such as tuition, fees and textbooks. About 60 NU students have received the award since its inception, Vaux said.

“It’s a fellowship where the selectors will look at the depth of what the students are studying,

and then they’ll combine that with the intrigue of research a student is already undertaking — the longer you’ve done it, the better,” she said. “Although it doesn’t really matter if you’ve been doing it since high school … if you have a really exciting research question and you’re deeply immersed.”

Rinaolo conducts research in organic chemistry and seeks ways to use efficient and low-waste chemical reactions to aid the production of important pharmaceutical drugs.

He decided to apply for the scholarship because Vaux and his research advisor Regan Thomson encouraged him.

“Right now, I intend to go into some kind of Ph.D. program so I can do further research,” he said. “I still have two more years, so what will happen I don’t know, but that’s the plan right now.”

Vaux said the award is usually given to students who express a desire to continue their research and make valuable contributions to their scientific fields in the future.

Clinch, who also majors in mathematics, said the support she received from Prof. SonBinh Nguyen, former director of the integrated science program, helped her a lot during the application process.

“He asked me about the application, how it was going,” she said. “Before I really had a chance to say that I was thinking about not doing it, he told me that if I sent him a request within a day or something he would get me a letter of recommendation before the due date. And that just kinda blew me away and so I changed my mind and I decided to go for it.”

Clinch, who also received a scholarship from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration this year, focuses her research on space, solar power and alternative energy medicine and nutrition.

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