By Kimberly Chin
Joseph Pawlowski, a senior mathematics major, won a Fulbright grant to do bio-mathematical research in Italy. Fulbright grants are issued by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.
Pawlowski said he was in class when his brother called to let him know he had received a package from the Fulbright program about three weeks ago. When he returned home, he found he had won the grant.
He applied for the grant after a meeting with Fulbright representatives in April 2007, he said. His friend had also won a Fulbright and encouraged him to apply.
Pawlowski spent the most of his summer preparing for the application. Among the standard procedures for a Fulbright application are a research/study proposal, a language background report and a required foreign sponsor, along with several other documents such as basic data and referrals.
Pawlowski explained that he had to go through about 50 drafts and had several people look through them. “Having different people read my work really helped shape my proposal,” he said.
Also a biology and chemistry minor, he said: “I wanted to come up a with a proposal that would marry the two disciplines [both mathematics and science].”
He had to reach a person in Italy who was willing to work with him on his proposed research, and Pawlowski came across Patrizia Lavia, a professor of biology and pathology at the University Sapienza in Rome. Pawlowski learned about cellular biology in class and thought that Lavia’s work was very unique.
She had teamed with several scientists to work on mathematical models for Ran cellular pathways. The Ran-binding protein, otherwise known as RanBP, regulates cellular processes including cell cycle progression and nucleocytoplasmic transport, according to an article in Cell Growth and Differentiation, a journal of the American Association of Cancer Research.
Pawlowski said that this research had important implications in cancer research, which also drew him to Lavia’s work. He said that this was a way he could use mathematical models and differential equations in medical research.
“When you’re really interested in something, it shows in your writing, and in my proposal,” Pawlowski said.
The letter that Pawlowski received from Fulbright did not disclose how much money he would be receiving through the grant, but it did indicate that it would cover travel, living expenses and provide him with a monthly stipend.
Pawlowski, who is graduating a year early, said he is leaving the mathematics field to go into medicine. He said he would like to be a physician one day.
“I think this is a nice conclusion,” Pawlowski said, of receiving the research grant.