Education
Florida State University student selected for Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship
Florida State University student Sebastian Ruiz has been selected by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) for its competitive Cech Fellows Program, a nine-week undergraduate research experience taking place this summer.
A rising FSU senior majoring in statistics with a focus on psychology, Ruiz was chosen for the inaugural Cech Fellows cohort of 176 undergraduate students from 109 institutions across 36 states and territories. Students are paired with scientists in HHMI labs and participate in a research symposium at the Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia.
“Representing FSU in the first Cech Fellows class to me is both an honor and a responsibility because now I am representing FSU on the global neuroscience research stage,” said Ruiz, a transfer student from West Palm Beach. “It also shows a sense of confidence on behalf of Janelia in the level of preparation that FSU is providing me with in my coursework.”
The summer program at Janelia’s campus, 30 miles outside Washington, D.C., helps students contribute to scientific discovery, receive professional mentorship and learn about biomedical research careers. Students work alongside HHMI scientists who are actively engaged in biology and health research.
Ruiz will work in Janelia’s Turaga Lab studying how artificial intelligence can improve our understanding of neural networks. He will create a digital model of a fruit fly’s brain and will study how the brain responds when certain behaviors are performed. Ruiz hopes this research done on fruit flies will lay a foundation for large-scale human brain studies.
“Sebastian is a remarkable leader: independent, driven and with a clear vision,” said Carmen Varela, who has served as a faculty advisor and mentor to Ruiz. “Seeing him receive recognition through the HHMI Cech Fellows Program is incredibly rewarding and entirely deserved.”
“Representing FSU in the first Cech Fellows class to me is both an honor and a responsibility because now I am representing FSU on the global neuroscience research stage.”
– Sebastian Ruiz, FSU senior and HHMI Cech Fellows
Ruiz was also one of four FSU students selected this year for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The national honor recognizes outstanding sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics.
During his time at FSU, Ruiz has spent the past year as a research assistant at Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Science, studying sensory noise degradation and the presentation of psychiatric illness following an earlier summer internship.
In 2025, he participated in Carnegie Mellon University’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Computational Brain Science, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Ruiz later continued his work at Carnegie Mellon as a research assistant in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior while continuing his studies at FSU.
At FSU, Ruiz founded the registered student organization CompNeuroSociety, a campus group that connects undergraduate students interested in computational neuroscience through interactive workshops, journal clubs and collaborative projects. The group helps students build confidence in the field and engage in discussions about computational neuroscience.
The Cech Fellows Program is named in honor of Thomas R. Cech, a former president of HHMI. Cech discovered that RNA can function as a biological catalyst, which reshaped molecular biology and earned him the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Cech established the Janelia campus and expanded educational opportunities for undergraduate students.
Founded in 1953, HHMI supports scientists at all stages of their careers and partners with more than 50 institutions nationwide.
For more information about applying for the Cech Fellows Program and other competitive national scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate students, visit FSU’s Office of National Fellowships website.
