Sloan Foundation Supports Work of Five Young Caltech Researchers

Five Caltech assistant professors have been chosen as recipients of Sloan Research Fellowships for 2012. Awarded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a not-for-profit grant making institution, the annual fellowships are given to scholars “whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars, the next generation of scientific leaders.”

The 126 researchers selected for this year’s prizes represent 51 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada. The Caltech faculty, who were nominated by their peers and selected for the award by a panel of senior scholars are: Theodor Agapie (PhD ’07), assistant professor of chemistry; John Asher Johnson, assistant professor of astronomy; Yi Ni, assistant professor of mathematics; Christian Ott, assistant professor of theoretical astrophysics; and Sarah Reisman, assistant professor of chemistry.

“Today’s Sloan Research Fellows are tomorrow’s Nobel Prize winners,” said Paul L. Joskow, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in a press release. “These outstanding men and women are responsible for some of the most exciting science being done today. The Foundation is proud to support them during this pivotal stage of their careers.”

All five winners joined the Caltech faculty in 2009. Chemist Agapie focuses his research on developing molecular solutions to problems related to energy, materials, and health, while astronomer Johnson works to detect and characterize exoplanets. Ni, a mathematician, is interested in three-dimensional topology and knot theory, and theoretical astrophysicist Ott builds computer models that simulate the death of massive stars. Reisman, an organic chemist, studies the field of natural product synthesis; the synthesis of organic molecules is critical to developing new pharmaceuticals.

Fellows receive $50,000 to be used to further their research. To read the Sloan Foundation’s press release, which includes a complete list of winners, click here.