UT Co-Op George H. Mitchell Award
Student Awards for Academic Excellence
In Spring 2026 the University of Texas at Austin, with the generous support of the University Co-op, will recognize undergraduate students for superior scholarly or creative achievement. Four recipients will receive awards of $5,000 each and two will receive the top prize of $7,000.
The Mitchell Awards Selection Committee consists of university faculty members who choose the recipients.
Deadline:
March 25, 2026
Eligibility
Applicants must be either a junior or senior currently enrolled at UT or have received their undergraduate degree in December 2025. Submitted work should be finished or close to finished (e.g. a complete draft of a thesis or research paper). Previous Mitchell Awards recipients are eligible only if the submitted work is a completely different project. Both the student application with all its supporting materials and the faculty recommendation form must be received by the deadline for the application to be considered.
The following materials must be uploaded via Interfolio:
- The student project (paper, thesis, publication, video, artwork, etc.) in a single digital file. If the project is a video, provide a YouTube or Vimeo link in a Word or PDF document briefly describing your project and referencing your link.
- Mitchell Video Prompt
- A one to two page CV or resume highlighting activities and achievements during your years of study at UT.
- A scanned copy of your academic summary available through the Texas One Stop at no cost.
- The UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Student Statement is to be completed in Interfolio.
- The faculty recommendation form. Please do not request a recommendation letter via Interfolio.
- The Official UT Austin Applicant Screening Questions and UT Austin Applicant Source forms will be completed in Interfolio. Although these forms are primarily used for university-wide faculty recruitment, they must be completed to finalize your application.
All of the above materials must be uploaded and your application submitted no later than March 25, 2026 11:59 p.m. CST.
Students may submit only one project per year of applying for the Co-op/Mitchell award.
Yes, co-submissions are accepted. Only one student should submit the application on behalf of the team. Only one letter of recommendation should be submitted for the team.
Yes, as long as the work was completed while you were a UT student. A letter of recommendation from a UT faculty member is still required.
No, only one letter of recommendation should be submitted per application. In the event that more than one faculty member supervised your work, they may co-write a letter of recommendation.
2025 UT Co-op George H. Mitchell Award Recipients
Gabriella Roque Olveira Nomura
Award: $7,000
Major: Biomedical Engineering Honors
Category: Grand Prize, STEM
Winning Project: TriSwinUNETR Lobe Segmentation Model for Computing DIR-free CT-ventilation
Paxton Smith
Award: $7,000
Major: Advertising
Category: Grand Prize, Humanities
Winning Project: A War on My Body; A War on My Rights
Xingrui Long
Award: $5,000
Major: English Honors
Category: Humanities
Winning Project: The Cybernetic Body: Modeling the Hermeneutic-Cybersocial in Neuromancer’s Recursive Governance
Anika Bhatia
Award: $5,000
Major: Psychology
Category: Social Sciences
Winning Project: The Relationship of Cognitive Intraindividual variability to Psychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With and Without Objective Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Complaints
Cecily Gibson
Award: $5,000
Major: Plan II and Chemistry
Category: STEM
Winning Project: The Relationship of Cognitive Intraindividual variability to Psychiatric Symptoms in Older Adults With and Without Objective Cognitive Impairment and Subjective Cognitive Complaints
Demian Chavez Galvan
Award: $5,000
Category: Artistic/Creative
Major: Theatre and Dance
Winning Project: Drama as a Methodology for Nahuatl Language Revitalization
2025 George H. Mitchell Award – Special Recognition
Chase Patterson
Award: $1,500
Major: Plan II and English
Category: Artistic/Creative
Project: Eternal Travelers: The Renga of Rangerworld
Rhea Lazar
Award: $1,500
Major: Molecular Biology
Category: Humanities
Project: Evaluating a Community-Centered Digital Health Navigation Tool: The Health Maze Program
Caroline Whitmarsh
Award: $1,500
Major: Plan II and Psychology
Category: Social Sciences
Project: Examining the Domain-General, Teacher-Rated, and Reading-Specific Working Memory
Akshara Ramaswamy
Award: $1,500
Major: Psychology
Category: STEM
Project: Acute and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection: a review of risk factors and social determinants
2025 George H. Mitchell Semi-Finalists
Leah C. Austin, Artistic/Creative
Aveen Ghodsi Jafari, Social Sciences
Lauren Allyn Rader, Social Sciences
Rachel Schmidt, STEM
Emma Vorndran, Humanities
Grant Gilker, Artistic Creative
| Year | Award | Name | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $7,000 | Josíah Garza | Grand Prize, Artistic/Creative |
| 2024 | $7,000 | Anirudh Sudarshan | Grand Prize, Social Sciences |
| 2024 | $5,000 | Melanie Quintero, Tuan Nguyen, Ana Metelski, Elizabeth Kinerk, Katherine Le | Artistic/Creative |
| 2024 | $5,000 | Arianne Ohman | Humanities |
| 2024 | $5,000 | Nikita Kakkad | Social Science |
| 2024 | $5,000 | Lars Deutz | STEM |
| 2024 | $1,625 | Jersey Robinson | Artistic/Creative |
| 2024 | $1,625 | Bradon Foskett | Humanities |
| 2024 | $1,625 | Michell Magnus Ducloux | Social Sciences |
| 2024 | $1,625 | Nirmal Patel | STEM |
| 2023 | $7,000 | Stephane Hatgis-Kessel | STEM |
| 2023 | $7,000 | Amtul-noor Rana | Social Science |
| 2023 | $5,000 | Benjamin Cervantes | Artistic/Creative |
| 2023 | $5,000 | Katherine Faulkner | STEM |
| 2023 | $5,000 | Sophia Kontos | Humanities |
| 2023 | $5,000 | Emma Gueorguieva | Social Science |
| 2023 | $1,625 | Thomas Jennings | Artistic/Creative |
| 2023 | $1,625 | Neel Nagarajan | STEM |
| 2023 | $1,625 | Amanda Figueroa-Nieves | Humanities |
| 2023 | $1,625 | Sarah Syamken | Social Sciences |
| 2022 | $7,000 | Aniket Sanghi | STEM |
| 2022 | $7,000 | Alexandria Passanisi | Artistic/Creative |
| 2022 | $6,000 | Vivek Ramanathan | STEM |
| 2022 | $5,000 | John Prado | Humanities |
| 2022 | $5,000 | Amelia Mercado | Social Sciences |
| 2022 | $5,000 | Alex Cao and Caleb Zhang | Artistic/Creative |
| 2022 | $1,625 | Matthew Santoso | STEM |
| 2022 | $1,625 | Megan Snopik | Humanities |
| 2022 | $1,625 | Jackie Yang | Social Sciences |
| 2022 | $1,625 | Macaella Gray and Zoe Roden | Artistic/Creative |
| 2021 | $3,000 | Jeremian Abdullah | Artistic/Creative |
| 2021 | $3,000 | Leonardo Di Bonaventura Altuve | Social Sciences |
| 2021 | $3,000 | Joseph Guidry | STEM |
| 2021 | $3,000 | Mark Simmons | Humanities |
| 2020 | $3,500 | Ethan Russo | Humanities |
| 2020 | $2,500 | Austin Ali | Artistic/Creative |
| 2020 | $2,500 | Zoe de Beurs | STEM |
| 2020 | $2,500 | Maike Morrison | STEM |
| 2020 | $2,500 | Ishaana Talesara | Social Sciences |
| 2019 | $12,000 | Ariel Rebekah Barr | STEM |
| 2019 | $5,000 | Logan Pearce | STEM |
| 2019 | $5,000 | Scott Spivey | Social Sciences |
| 2019 | $2,500 | Aliyah Conley | Humanities |
| 2019 | $2,500 | Griffin Glenn | STEM |
| 2018 | $12,000 | Zahra Ahmed | STEM |
| 2018 | $5,000 | James Ding | Social Sciences |
| 2018 | $5,000 | Oluwaseun Olayiwola | Artistic/Creative |
| 2018 | $2,500 | Ashlie Martinez | STEM |
| 2018 | $2,500 | John Lin | STEM |
| 2017 | $12,000 | Luis Cataldo | Humanities |
| 2017 | $5,000 | Nathan Rebello | STEM |
| 2017 | $5,000 | Benjamin Stevenson | Artistic/Creative |
| 2017 | $2,500 | Gabrielle McRoberts | Social Sciences |
| 2017 | $2,500 | Bronwyn Scott | STEM |
| 2016 | $10,000 | Nell McKeown | Humanities |
| 2016 | $3,000 | Lillian Leone | Social Sciences |
| 2016 | $3,000 | Shelby Walford | Sciences or Technology |
| 2016 | $3,000 | Aydin Zahedivash | Sciences or Technology |
| 2016 | $2,000 | Mohnish Gandhi | Social Sciences |
| 2016 | $2,000 | Jaclyn Kachelmeyer | Social Sciences |
| 2016 | $2,000 | Macey Shay | Humanities |
| 2015 | $10,000 | Victoria Arnold | Sciences or Technology |
| 2015 | $3,000 | Ciaran Dean-Jones | Humanities |
| 2015 | $3,000 | Noor Momin | Sciences or Technology |
| 2015 | $3,000 | Thales Smith | Artistic/Creative Project or Performance |
| 2015 | $2,000 | Kaitlyn Kennedy | Humanities |
| 2015 | $2,000 | Nikita Klimovich | Sciences or Technology |
| 2015 | $2,000 | Nalin Ratnayeke | Sciences or Technology |
| 2014 | $10,000 | Lucy Kerr | Humanities |
| 2014 | $3,000 | Lindsay Mulford | Social Sciences |
| 2014 | $3,000 | Patrick Naeve | Humanities |
| 2014 | $2,000 | Lucy Junker | Humanities |
| 2014 | $2,000 | Casey Nice | Humanities |
| 2013 | $12,500 | Victor Vu | Science and Technology |
| 2013 | $12,500 | Katherine Noble | Artistic and Creative |
| 2013 | $5,000 | Isaac Gomez | Artistic and Creative |
| 2013 | $5,000 | Andrew Wortham | Social Sciences |
| 2013 | $2,000 | Ashty Karim | Science and Technology |
| 2013 | $2,000 | Leon Dean | Science and Technology |
| 2013 | $2,000 | Hannah Waitt | Humanities |
Application Support
The University of Texas at Austin is using an Interfolio product to collect award applications. Applicants to this position receive a Dossier account and can send all application materials, including confidential letters of recommendation, free of charge.
For help signing up, accessing your account, or submitting your application please check out Interfolio’s help and support section or get in touch via email at help@interfolio.com or phone at (877) 997-8807.
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