February 23, 2015

Five UW early career researchers win Sloan Research Fellowships

Five University of Washington professors have received the 2015 Sloan Research Fellowships that honor early career scientists and scholars who are seen as rising stars in their fields.

The UW’s winners are Brandi Cossairt, assistant professor of chemistry; Cole Trapnell, assistant professor of genome sciences; Shyam Gollakota, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Emily Fox, assistant professor of statistics; and Thomas Rothvoss, assistant professor of computer science and engineering and of mathematics.

Each faculty member will receive $50,000 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to continue their research.

“We are very proud of these young scientists who have received these very meaningful and prestigious early career fellowships,” said UW Provost and Executive Vice President Ana Mari Cauce. “The awards will enhance the innovative work they are doing in their respective disciplines. The number of recipients this year is also a tribute to the talent our departments have brought to the UW in recent years — these young faculty members are at the top of their fields at this point in their careers and as such the future of the University looks very bright.”

This year’s 126 fellows come from 57 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada and cover many different fields in the sciences, including oceanography, computer science, astronomy, neuroscience, economics and chemistry. Since the program began in 1955, 43 fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective fields, along with many other prestigious awards.

Candidates are nominated by their fellow scientists, and winning fellows are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars on the basis of a candidate’s independent research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in his or her field.

Read more about the fellowship and see a complete list of winners.