Sciences Student Josh Ott Presented With Astronaut Scholar Award

Josh Ott ’25, a mathematics and physics double major, was selected as a 2024 Astronaut Scholar. The award is among the largest merit-based monetary scholarships given to undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students. Veteran NASA Astronaut Tony Antonelli presented Ott with the award at a ceremony on Feb. 10 at NC State’s Talley Student Union. 

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) awards the prestigious Astronaut Scholarship to STEM students in their junior or senior year of college who intend to pursue research or advance their field after completing their degrees. The ASF awarded 71 Astronaut Scholarships to students from 45 different universities across the country in 2024. 

Ott has spent past summers conducting research at Brookhaven National Laboratory and the European Organization for Nuclear Research. He joined the research group of Vladimir Skokov, an associate professor of physics, as a first-year student at NC State. As part of his work with Skokov — and Thomas Schäfer, Wesley O. Doggett Distinguished Professor of Physics — Ott led the computational aspect of a project focused on searching for a possible critical point in the quantum chromodynamics phase diagram. This work led to the publication of a paper, “Dynamic scaling of order parameter fluctuations in model B.” Ott plans to pursue a doctorate in theoretical physics after graduation.  

The six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts founded ASF in 1984, with the goal of helping the U.S. maintain its world leadership in technology and innovation by supporting the best and brightest STEM scholars. In 1986, the ASF awarded its first seven scholarships. Today, the foundation awards more than 70 scholarships each year valued at up to $15,000 each.