Edgar Barroso selected as part of the Inaugural Class of Harvard Horizons Scholars

Eight students named as finalists by Harvard Horizons, the new GSAS initiative to celebrate the insights and innovations of Harvard’s PhD community

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is pleased to announce the 2013 Horizon Scholars, eight PhD students whose ideas, innovations, and insights have the potential to reshape their disciplines. These students have been selected by the Harvard Horizons initiative as representatives of the high aspirations and the extraordinary achievements of Harvard University’s PhD programs. They form the inaugural class of the Society of Horizon Scholars, a new fellowship cohort that will offer opportunities for long-lasting community, mentorship, and professional and academic growth. Over the next month, these scholars will receive in-depth mentoring on the art of effective presentation, preparing them for a campus-wide symposium on May 6, at 4:30 p.m. in Sanders Theatre.

The Inaugural Horizon Scholars
and their project titles:

Edgar Barroso, Music
“Enhancing Music, Social, and Entrepreneurial Innovation through Trans-Disciplinary Collaboration”

Stephanie Dick, History of Science
“Aftermath: Following Mathematics into the Digital”

Alex Fattal, Anthropology
“Guerrilla Marketing: Information War and the Demobilization of FARC Rebels”

Hansun Hsiung, East Asian Languages and Civilizations
“Textbook Enlightenment: Europe, Japan, and the Global Book Trade, 1720–1877”

Fenna Krienen, Psychology
“What We Can Learn From the Human Connectome”

Aaron Kuan, Applied Physics
“Graphene Nanopores for Single-Molecule DNA Sequencing”

Liz Maynes-Aminzade, English
“Macro-Realism: How Fiction Can Help Us Understand an Interconnected World”

Jeff Teigler, Division of Medical Sciences
“Building Better Vaccines by Learning the Language of the Immune System”

The Horizon Scholars will present their ideas in compelling, short-format talks at the Harvard Horizons Symposium on May 6, at 4:30 p.m., at Sanders Theatre. Provost Alan Garber, FAS Dean Mike Smith, and GSAS Dean Xiao-Li Meng will join in the celebration, and faculty, staff, and students from across the University are invited to attend as well, and to stay for a reception after the symposium. Free tickets will be available at the Harvard Box Office and at the door at Sanders Theatre. (More information to follow.)

The inaugural class of Horizon Scholars was selected by Harvard Horizons, an initiative of Dean Meng and Shigehisa Kuriyama, Reischauer Institute Professor of Cultural History at Harvard.

Fifty-five PhD students applied to Harvard Horizons in February, submitting synopses of their most essential research ideas and short video of themselves presenting their work. A cross-disciplinary faculty committee reviewed the applications, selected 15 semi-finalists, and conducted a round of interviews, after which the committee met to choose the eight Horizon Scholars.