WKU News

December 2025 graduate Emma Bunch of Glasgow has earned the highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. NSF Fellows receive a three-year annual stipend of $37,000 in addition to a $16,000 educational allowance to the scholar’s graduate institution. 

The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to ensure the quality, vitality, and strength of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. Since 1952, the program has recognized and supported outstanding graduate students pursuing full-time research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, including STEM education. Fellows are selected on the basis of their potential to advance knowledge and benefit society. This year, 2599 Fellowships were awarded and 1470 were named Honorable Mentions.  

Bunch, the daughter of Joy and Steve Bunch, graduated in December 2025 with a degree in mathematics. She will pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering focusing on advancing immunotherapy systems at the University of Kentucky. 

"This fellowship is a dream come true, as I have wanted to conduct cancer therapeutics research since I was nine years old,” said Bunch. “I am so thankful not only for the financial security that comes with the fellowship but also to be able to pursue the exact work I am called to in my home state."  

Bunch’s extraordinary academic ability, leadership, and research experience through multiple pre-collegiate programs for gifted and talented students first landed her at Harvard for undergraduate study. Being away from home taught her how much she valued her community, however, and she transferred to WKU, where she channeled her immense energy for discovery and service into research and entrepreneurship. With the help of CREATE, the Central Region Ecosystem for Arts, Technology and Entrepreneurship, housed at the WKU Innovation Campus, Bunch founded Curelytics, a sophisticated app that uses AI and quantum computing to help patients navigate clinical trials. 

(Hear Emma discuss her research, entrepreneurship, and future directions on Debugged, the Congressional App Challenge podcast here) 

On campus, Emma has conducted research with Dr. Tilak Bhattacharya and Dr. Molly Dunkum on Möbius transformations, hyperbolic geometry, and their potential connection with quantum computation. This, her first foray into pure mathematical research, resulted in an Honors Thesis that recently earned the Mahurin Honors College Thesis of the Year award. 

Bunch’s community in the region and on campus has been transformative for her academic career. “From coursework to research to clinical experiences and beyond, I am so very grateful for all the mentors, professors, friends, and family that have supported me at every step and given their time and energy to help me achieve my goals,” said Bunch.  

“Growing up in rural Kentucky has been a huge blessing. Its tradition, heritage, and people have made me who I am, and I hope to develop life-changing therapeutics for cancers and give back to rural communities like my hometown of Glasgow.” 

Students interested in applying for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program and other external funded research opportunities are encouraged to contact Melinda Grimsley, the Assistant Director of the Office of Scholar Development. 

About the Office of Scholar Development (OSD): OSD helps students make more possible by applying for national scholarships to fund “academic extras” such as study abroad, research, professional experience, and more. By conceptualizing and revising the stories they tell in application essays and interviews, students better understand their strengths, interests, and purpose—and explore multiple possible pathways to that work.