Irvine, Calif., Feb. 20, 2013 – Three faculty members from UC Irvine’s School of Physical Sciences are among the 126 outstanding U.S. and Canadian recipients of 2013 Sloan Research Fellowships, announced Tuesday, Feb. 19. Awarded annually since 1955 by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the fellowships go to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars.

UC Irvine honorees are:

  • Matt Law, assistant professor of chemistry, who is researching low-cost and Earth-abundant alternatives to the expensive materials now used in making solar panels.
  • Jeffrey Streets, assistant professor of mathematics, whose research focuses on geometric evolution equations and their application to topology, geometry and mathematical physics.
  • Jing Xia, assistant professor of physics & astronomy, whose research in condensed-matter physics is aimed at making next-generation electronic devices and robust quantum computers.

“We recruit the best young faculty members in the country,” said Kenneth Janda, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Physical Sciences, “and we’re pleased that the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has recognized this excellence by awarding three of our recent recruits the prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship.”

Paul Joskow, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, said the selected fellows are the best of the best among young scientists.

“If you want to know where the next big scientific breakthrough will come from,” he said, “you need to look to these extraordinary men and women. The foundation is proud to support them during this pivotal stage of their careers.”

Drawn from 61 colleges and universities across the U.S. and Canada, the 2013 Sloan Research Fellows represent eight scientific fields: chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, evolutionary and computational molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics.

Candidates must be nominated by fellow scientists, and winners are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars. Fellows receive $50,000 to further their research.

For a complete list of awardees, visit here.

About the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation: A philanthropic nonprofit based in New York City, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation was established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then- president and CEO of General Motors Corp. It makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance.

About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,400 staff. Orange County’s second-largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.3 billion. For more UCI news, visit wp.communications.uci.edu.

News Radio: UCI maintains on campus an ISDN line for conducting interviews with its faculty and experts. Use of this line is available for a fee to radio news programs/stations that wish to interview UCI faculty and experts. Use of the ISDN line is subject to availability and approval by the university.