Student Awards and Prizes
Ron Ruby Scholarship
The Ron Ruby Scholarship is intended to reward the most promising young undergraduate physicists while also honoring Ron’s vision of providing greater access to quality college education. The award will be based primarily on academic merit, which can include grades and research experience. Additional factors may be considered, such as financial need or service dedicated toward helping educationally disadvantaged students. The scholarship is awarded annually.
Recent past recipients:
2025 – Aarna Garg, Shreyanshi Garg, Arian Moghni, Quinton Poncelet
2024 – Evan Carrasco, Natalie Hultgren
2023 – River Stern
2021 – Zach Dethloff, Xander Vriesman, Siuling Pau Sanchez, Sam English, Max Silverstein, Luis Bautista, Lian Santos-Olmsted, Jianhong Zou, Len Morelos-Zaragoza, Eva Schmidt, Bryn Lonsbrough, Alberto Baez
2020 – Emily Hoang, William Ryan
Darrell and Elaine Long Prize in Experimental Physics
This prize was established by Darrell D.E. Long and Elaine N. Long, and is awarded each year to the best Ph.D. thesis in experimental physics.
Recent past recipients:
2025 – Maverick McLanahan: Spin Dynamics in ‘Fire-Ice’ Magnets
2024 – Nathan Kang: Search for Supersymmetry with Compressed Mass Spectra Using a Vector Boson Fusion Topology with the ATLAS Detector
2022 – Patrick LaBarre: Experimental Manifestations of Topology and the Development of a Non-Local Conductivity Apparatus
Marilyn Stevens Memorial Scholarship
The Marilyn Stevens Memorial Scholarship is an award designed to honor the former Department Manager of Physics, Marilyn Stevens. It is given to a current upper-division physics undergraduate student and a current physics graduate student. The award considers academic excellence, community service, service in and out of UCSC, and any outstanding contribution made to the Physics Department.
Recent past recipients:
2024 – Ollie Jackson, Fenix Lopez, Pierce Giffin, Sri Aditya Gadam
2023 – Grey Thoron, Samantha Contreras, Ollie Jackson
2021 – Verenise Martinez, Gabriela Huckabee
2020 – Nicole Man, Monica Leys, Sandra Nair