Four Hopkins students awarded Gilman Scholarship to study abroad this summer

Four Johns Hopkins University students will be heading abroad this summer—to Peru, Senegal, Japan, and Jordan—as winners of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.

Image caption: The four students awarded Gilman Scholarships are (clockwise from top left): Clara Molineros, Duy Phan, Rocio Oliva, and Madeleine Uraih

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the scholarship aims to diversify the U.S. students who study and intern internationally, and the countries and regions where they go. The Hopkins honorees—Clara Molineros, Rocio Oliva, Duy Phan, and Madeleine Uraih—are among more than 250 Gilman Scholars who will be pursuing studies or career-oriented internships this summer.

Funded by Congress, the scholarship supports students who have been traditionally under-represented in education abroad, providing up to $5,000 to each recipient. The program was established in 2001 on the principle that international exchange is vital for preparing U.S. students to "assume significant roles in an increasingly global economy and interdependent world." The Gilman Scholars, who are chosen through a competitive selection process, use their awards to defray costs, including their program tuition, room and board, and international airfare.

More about the Hopkins honorees and what they'll be up to this summer:

• Clara Molineros, a junior from Vero Beach, Florida, majoring in biomedical engineering, will be studying in Paris and Dakar as part of the CIEE Francophone studies program. The program allows students to explore the impact of French history and culture on modern-day Senegal.

• Rocio Oliva, a junior studying chemistry, art history, and Latin American studies on the pre-med track, will attend the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Cusco, Peru. She hopes to study Incan architecture and Latin American literature.

• Duy Phan, a sophomore from Columbus, Ohio, studying neuroscience, will be in Tokyo, Japan, as an internship fellow in Dr. Yoshihiro Yoshihara's Laboratory for Neurobiology of Synapse in the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, an international brain research center. As physician-scientist in training, Duy says he hopes the internship will help him "prepare to enter the international neuroscience community."

• Madeleine Uraih, a freshman from Houston, Texas, focusing on public health, sociology, and philosophy, will be studying Arabic in Amman, Jordan, through the School for International Training. She says she hopes "to learn more about the social and political structure of Jordan as well as their efforts to help the Syrian refugees."