History and Purpose
The Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation established the Curci Scholars program in 2021 to provide full scholarships and living expenses for the first two years of PhD programs for six students at each of three universities: UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, and University of Washington. In 2022, the program was expanded to include UCSF, University of Utah, and University of Colorado Boulder.
The Shurl and Kay Curci Foundation PhD Scholarship at UCSF – established with a generous gift of $1.75M – is dedicated to supporting basic science research in the life sciences. The scholarship supports incoming PhD students in the basic sciences for the first two years of their degree program, with a special emphasis on increasing recruitment of international students.
Based on the success of the multi-year pilot program, beginning in January 2025, the Curci Foundation will commence a continuous PhD scholarship program, giving each participating university up to $1 million to fund incoming PhD students for their first and second year at the university. The gift is intended to provide the stipend, tuition, and health insurance for each student cohort for up to $500,000 annually for two years. Learn more about the Curci Foundation.
Eligibility
- First-year PhD students – fellowship offered during the annual admissions cycle
- Students must be committed to undertaking rotations and thesis projects in the basic sciences, on a wet-lab based project, per the stipulations of the funder.
- Students must be admitted to one of the following programs (two nominations per program):
- Tetrad
- Bioengineering
- Biological and Medical Informatics
- Biomedical Sciences
- Biophysics
- Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
- Neuroscience
- Oral and Craniofacial Sciences
- Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
Preference will be given to:
- International candidates, especially those from middle or low income countries.
- Candidates who would be considered historically underrepresented in the biomedical research enterprise.
Support
- Five fellowships total awarded in 2024-25
- Full stipend paid over a 24-month period (September - August)
- Tuition and fees, including non-residential supplemental tuition for 2024-2026
Awardees
2024-2025
- Yulia Gutierrez – Biophysics
- Elizabeth Hardy – Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
- Wen-Chun Lee – Neuroscience
- Amanda Lipford – Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics
- Luis Oliva – Tetrad
Learn more about the 2024-2025 Curci Scholars.
2023-2024
- Brenda Ametepe – Bioengineering
- Haoyu Fan – Chemistry and Chemical Biology
- Tayma Handal – Developmental and Stem Cell Biology
- Nikhita Kirthivasan – Biomedical Sciences
- Chloe Kong – Bioengineering
- Chang Liu – Tetrad
Learn more about the 2023-24 Curci Scholars.
