Three University of Wisconsin assistant professors were granted Sloan Research Fellowships Tuesday in recognition of their early-stage scientific research.
Every year the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation honors 126 researchers for their work in their respective fields of science. Included among those 126 researchers were three UW assistant professors, Etienne Garand, Ari Rosenberg and Lu Wang.
Each recipient will receive $55,000 for the duration of two years to help them further their research.
Assistant professor of chemistry Garand said he was honored when he was announced as one of the UW recipients of the Sloan fellowship.
Garand said he has received tremendous support from the university and chemistry department as he has worked to get his research career started.
Garand’s research currently focuses on the chemical reactions involved in renewable energy by freezing and studying the reactions as they occur. The purpose of the research is to create better, more efficient chemical reactions.
Garand believes his research may potentially be applicable to a broad range of chemical reactions.
“I think for me the big thing is the recognition [tells me] what I am doing is … really worthwhile and worth pursuing,” Garand said.
Assistant professor of neuroscience Ari Rosenberg said he too was thrilled and honored to receive the award.
Having only recently come to UW, Rosenberg said the supportive atmosphere of the university and his colleagues has made his transition from Baylor College of Medicine easier and allowed him to be more productive.
“It’s a really great privilege because it shows that [his] lab is doing things that are capturing the interests of a lot of researchers,” Rosenberg said.
Rosenberg’s research focuses on how the brain takes 2-D images seen through the eyes, and creates a 3-D image using visual sensory and non-visual information. His research also looks at how computational modeling can be used to better understand mental health disorders. Rosenberg’s lab is looking at the possibility of using computational models of the mind in clinical settings to develop individualized treatment plans.
Professor of mathematics Lu Wang said in an email to The Badger Herald she was honored to have her research’s potential recognized. Wang’s current research focuses on geometric analysis and better understanding singularities of geometric flows.
She said her short-term goal is to classify these singularities and eventually develop a geometric approach to address some topological problems.
Wang said with the generous support from the Sloan Foundation she will have opportunities to address challenging problems in her current research.
This article was updated to correct the amount each fellowship recipient received and Rosenberg’s name. A previous version of this article also misstated Rosenberg’s transition from Baylor College of Medicine. The Badger Herald regrets this error.
