Eva Stafne, a University of Wisconsin-Madison junior majoring in mechanical engineering and completing a certificate in international engineering, has received a 2026 Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences in the United States.
Two other UW-Madison juniors, Aletta Bergman and Krithi Gopinath, also received 2026 Goldwater Scholarships.
Each university in the country may nominate up to four undergraduates for the annual award. Historically, UW–Madison has done well, and this year is no exception, says Julie Stubbs, director of UW’s Office of Undergraduate Academic Awards.
“I’m so proud of Aletta, Krithi and Eva. I want to congratulate these hard-working, talented scholars for this national recognition,” says Stubbs. “Their success also highlights a campus culture of hands-on research experiences and exceptional mentoring in mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences.”
Congress established the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986, in honor of the late Sen. Barry Goldwater. Goldwater served in the U.S. Senate for over 30 years and challenged Lyndon B. Johnson for the presidency in 1964. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Goldwater Scholarship.
A Goldwater Scholarship provides as much as $7,500 each year for up to two years of undergraduate study. A total of 454 Goldwater Scholars were selected this year from a field of 1,485 students nominated by their academic institutions.
Stafne, from Stillwater, Minnesota, conducts astrophysics research with Professor Juliette Becker and has earned both the university’s Sophomore Research Fellowship and the NASA‑funded Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Fellowship to support her work.
In her first‑author paper, “General Relativity Can Prevent a Runaway Greenhouse on Potentially Habitable Planets Orbiting White Dwarfs,” published in The Astrophysical Journal, Stafne demonstrates that Einstein’s theory of general relativity can stabilize planetary orbits around white dwarf stars, allowing some planets to remain temperate enough to potentially support life — a finding that overturns a key assumption in habitability research.
During the fall 2025 semester, Stafne studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), where she completed coursework in space technology and robotics and contributed to Orbit BioSat, a student‑led satellite mission aimed at growing and sustaining a living plant in space. Additionally, as the elected president of the UW–Madison chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, she helped facilitate industry and academic partnerships to expand industry opportunities for students. This summer she will be an intern at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Stafne plans to pursue a PhD in aerospace engineering and a career focused on mission‑driven research into the habitability of other planets.
To read more about the other UW-Madison award recipients, visit UW-Madison News.
Featured image caption: From left to right, undergraduate students and 2026 Goldwater Scholars recipients Eva Stafne, Aletta Bergman and Krithi Gopinath. Photo: Jeff Miller/UW-Madison.