Incoming STEM PhD Students Selected by SURA for 2026 Graduate Awards

WASHINGTON - EntSun -- The Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA) has selected four student researchers as recipients of the 2026 SURA Graduate Awards: Courtney Boyd, Ahanab Anab, Haobo Cui, and Liam Babcock.

The award recognizes incoming doctoral students in STEM disciplines who have demonstrated exceptional academic and research talent at universities in the SURA consortium. With this award, SURA provides these students with $5,000 to enhance their professional development and reduce financial barriers to success in their PhD programs.

Boyd, who holds an MS in computer science from Virginia State University, began her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering at Norfolk State University this fall. In addition to leading drone-based STEM education programming, Boyd has focused her research on autonomous systems and artificial intelligence (AI), developing a humanoid AI robot for staff and healthcare training as well as a digital twin system linking virtual and physical robots through virtual reality.

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Anab is pursuing his PhD in computer science at Georgia State University, where he recently earned his MS in computer science. In his research, Anab has applied data science and AI to a range of real-world datasets, developing webcam-based systems for stress signal detection, emotion recognition, and real-time sign language translation. In his doctoral research, Anab plans to continue developing AI-enabled digital health technologies.

Cui completed his MS in mathematics and statistics at Georgia State University and is continuing his doctoral studies in the same department, where he will focus on applications to machine learning and data science. In his master's research, Cui designed new multivariate modeling approaches for high-dimensional datasets, culminating in a first-author paper under review. He was one of two students selected for the machine learning concentration.

Babcock completed his BS in biology at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and recently matriculated into the PhD program in pharmaceutical engineering at the Richmond-based university. Named the 2026 Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology at VCU, Babcock led several research projects while pursuing his undergraduate degree, focusing on novel therapeutics for chronic pain, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.

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Boyd, Anab, Cui, and Babcock will be recognized this month at the 2026 SURA Annual Members Meeting at Jefferson Lab for their academic achievements.

"SURA's role is to strengthen the people and institutions that drive the research enterprise," said SURA President and CEO Dr. Sean Hearne. "By supporting these students as they begin their doctoral training, we are investing directly in promising STEM talent while building on the outstanding preparation and mentorship provided by our member universities."

Read more about the awardees here.