The Robert P. Lin Graduate Fellowship was established in 2012 with a gift from Robert P. Lin’s wife, Lily Lin. It will be used to support outstanding graduate students at the University of California, Berkeley, who pursue research related to space sciences, including, but not limited to, students with training in Physics, Astronomy, or Engineering. Recipients of the fellowship will be UC Berkeley graduate students who demonstrate a high level of academic distinction.

Lin Fellows will be funded to perform research during Summer 2018 at the Space Sciences Laboratory. The Fellowship will provide salary support and a research stipend.

Students from all departments on the UC Berkeley campus are eligible. Preference will be given to students who pursue research projects associated with the Space Sciences Laboratory. Interested students should send a CV, a cover letter, and statement of research interests to [email protected]. Applications received before March 30, 2018, will be given higher priority.


Robert Lin
Robert Lin in 2008, upon his retirement as director of the Space Sciences Laboratory.

Robert Peichung Lin was a long-time faculty member in the Department of Physics at UC Berkeley who served for many years as the Director of the Space Sciences Laboratory. He spent most of his career at Berkeley and led a revolution in our understanding of high energy solar physics. He made pioneering discoveries of x-rays and gamma-rays from solar flares, using several generations of instruments and culminating in NASA’s RHESSI Explorer mission. Robert Lin also designed instruments to make in situ space plasma measurements and used them to measure surface magnetic and electric fields at the Moon and Mars. As a member of the National Academy of Sciences he collaborated on many space research projects internationally. His impact on Space Sciences at Berkeley was profound. He was an effective teacher and graduate advisor. This fellowship serves to underscore the importance with which he viewed graduate education.