Steven Robinette was working in a laboratory in mid-November when he received the e-mail.
The UF senior found out he was one of 35 students across the country and the first from UF to receive the Marshall Scholarship.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” he said.
The scholarship, created by the U.K. government after the implementation of the Marshall Plan in 1953, will enable Robinette to study for at least two years at Imperial College London as he pursues a Ph.D. in biochemistry.
Robinette said he has been looking into scholarships like the Marshall Scholarship since he got the information during the UF preview orientation.
“I’ve known for forever that I wanted to go live in Britain for at least a little while,” he said.
The scholarship recipients got to choose in which school in the U.K. they wanted to study.
Robinette spent his junior year studying at Imperial College London as a Barry M. Goldwater scholar and said he is excited to return.
“It makes it less intimidating,” he said.
Robinette, who will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology in April, said he will enter as a master’s student but wants to get funding to stay for a third year to get his Ph.D.
He said the application process was pretty standard, including an online application, an interview and four letters of recommendation.
He said UF biomedical engineering professor Art Edison, who has been working and doing research with Robinette since Robinette was a freshman, was one of the people who inspired him the most throughout the course of his studies.
Edison said Robinette is a very hardworking and deserving student. He said he is a perfect example of how an undergraduate student can take advantage of the research opportunities at UF.
“He’s going to go on to be a very well-known, well-regarded scientist,” Edison said.
