Jan 20, 2011 - Claremont, Calif. -

Alicia Schep ’11 has been awarded the prestigious Churchill Scholarship, which offers exceptional American students the chance to pursue graduate studies at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge in England.

One of only 14 students nationwide to receive the scholarship, Schep plans to study computational biology at Cambridge during the 2011-2012 academic year.

“Alicia is interested in using computational methods to help understand a variety of very challenging questions in biology,” said Computer Science Professor Ran Libeskind-Hadas, who coordinated the Churchill Scholarship application process at HMC. “The University of Cambridge is a leader in this field and Alicia’s year in Cambridge will help prepare her for her doctoral work and future research.”

The scholarship will cover all of Schep’s University and College fees (about $20,000 to $25,000), provide a living allowance of £11,000 for her 11-month program, and pay up to $1,000 for roundtrip airfare. She will also be eligible to receive an additional $2,000 for a special research grant.

A chemical biology major, Schep’s academic career has been marked by excellence. She received HMC’s CRC Excellence in General Chemistry Award in 2008 and William G. Sly Prize—awarded to a junior chemistry student for “curiosity, intellectual integrity and enthusiasm”—in 2009. Chosen as a Senior Biology Writing Fellow in HMC’s Biology Department, Schep co-authored a paper on cancer research done with HMC alumni Diana Tran ’09 and Terence Wong ’09, which was published in DNA & Cell Biology Journal. Last year, Schep received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.

Following her studies at Cambridge, Schep plans to earn a Ph.D. in molecular biology, conduct research, and teach at the university level.

The Churchill Scholarship draws applicants from 103 American colleges and universities, with this year’s winners hailing from institutions such as Harvard, Carnegie Mellon and Princeton. The Winston Churchill Foundation, which administers the scholarship program, was founded in 1959 at the recommendation of Sir Winston Churchill, who wanted to ensure the participation of American graduate students at the College that was named in his honor.

Schep is the 16th Churchill scholar chosen from Harvey Mudd College.