Coming into focus

As a vision scientist, UC Irvine cognitive sciences assistant professor Cherlyn Ng studies how the eyes and the brain synchronously process the world. As a teacher, she applies that same insight to how students in her classes engage with complex ideas, connecting course concepts to real-world applications.

“I want all of my students to be able to distill knowledge through critical analysis and application,” she says.

Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, and her efforts earned her recognition as the 2025 Distinguished Early-Career Faculty Award for Teaching recipient, an honor given annually to a UC Irvine assistant professor who’s made extraordinary contributions to the educational mission of the campus. The award spotlights Ng’s style of making the substance and excitement of her discipline accessible to students – efforts her colleagues say make her a standout selection for this year’s award.

“As one might imagine, teaching perception involves going through a great deal of dense content and making such content fun and interactive is not an easy task,” says Nadia Chernyak, cognitive sciences associate professor. “Her courses creatively translate content-heavy material into innovative hands-on activities with real-world job applications.”

One activity her students have found to be particularly useful in their educational and professional trajectories is a career development project in which they apply concepts from perception research to create and critique effective résumés – samples they can then use on the job market. According to one former student, the project was “the most thoughtful and enduring” they had been assigned while a student at UC Irvine.

For Ng, that kind of applied work is a no-brainer. Many of her students – like her – come from first-generation backgrounds, and she wants them to be competitive in careers once they leave campus.

“I grew up in a blue-collar family; mom and dad saw education as a means to put food on the table. I bring that with me,” she says. “I know my students are having to think about jobs, and I think it’s my job to equip them for the workforce and success. I design my courses with that in mind.”

Her teaching style has also had a positive impact on her research. “I find I only teach well when I’m up to date on state-of-the-art research,” she says. “I want to be sure I’m teaching the most relevant work in the field, so there’s a lot of merging in my teaching and research – each informs the other.”

She specializes in binocular vision – how the brain combines slightly different views from each eye into one picture. Teaching broader vision science content – like how we recognize faces – is giving her new ideas for her own future work. “Teaching topics that we don’t often think about during research motivates me to consider my interests in the bigger context,” she says.

Ng joined UCI in 2023 after teaching at graduate schools where her courses were tied to strict board exam requirements. The transition to undergraduate teaching – where she had the freedom to build her own syllabi – was both exciting and daunting.

“Going from professional-level courses with required criteria to now having a free license to plan my classes from scratch was a bit unnerving,” she says. “But I have found this to be a privilege, knowing our students are going out into industry, so I really want to prepare them for successful careers.”

Currently, she teaches two undergraduate courses – one lecture-style, the other a lab – and one graduate seminar based on readings and discussion. She also mentors nine students in her research lab, supporting projects that span clinical, technological and basic neuroscientific applications. The interdisciplinary dynamic is mutually beneficial: “We all have different expertise and interests. It can feel like the Tower of Babel. But we learn from each other and grow together as a team.”

“I really enjoy the students at UC Irvine – they’re very bright,” she says. “I also like the fact that we have students from all walks of life. They each have their own stories. I am inspired by their pathways that demonstrate upward and social mobility through courage and hard work. I like that we emphasize education for everyone.”

For Ng, the real reward of her work lies in her students’ development.

“My greatest satisfaction as a teacher is watching my students grow into successful individuals who in turn build communities that support the education of those after them,” she says.

Ng will be among the 2025-26 Academic Senate Distinguished Faculty Award recipients honored at a ceremony scheduled for Feb. 11, 2026. For more information, please visit https://senate.uci.edu/distinguished-faculty-awards/.