The global Alltech Young Scientist program has narrowed down the competition to eight finalists, including a Michigan State University graduate and a University of Massachusetts Amherst undergraduate.
The AYS program, now in its 12th year, features the world’s largest agriscience competition, with 154 nominations from 134 professors representing 121 universities from 36 countries in 2017 alone.
The regional finalists will attend AYS Discovery Week, held in conjunction with ONE: The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE17), May 21–24 in Lexington, Kentucky, to present their papers to a panel of international judges. The prizes include a fully funded Ph.D. position for the global undergraduate winner as well as $5,000 USD, and a fully funded postdoctorate position and $10,000 USD for the global graduate winner.
Jonas de Souza, Michigan State University, United States, was selected as the North America finalist for the graduate AYS award with his paper, “Fatty acid metabolism.” For the North America finalist in the undergraduate AYS division, Joshua Gukowsky, University of Massachusetts Amherst, won with his research on “Detecting antibiotic residues in foods.”
“The Alltech Young Scientist program provides a great opportunity for students to showcase their research talent in front of a global audience, including some of the most respected leaders within agriculture and agriscience,” said Dr. Aoife Lyons, director of educational initiatives and engagement at Alltech. “We are rewarding the undergraduate and graduate competition winners with the opportunity to join our global team.”
