Two UW-Madison researchers awarded prestigious Sloan Fellowships

Two University of Wisconsin–Madison professors have been named to Sloan Research Fellowships — prestigious and competitive awards given to promising young researchers in the early stages of their careers.

“Early-career recognition can make a significant difference in the life of a scientist,” says Daniel L. Goroff, vice president of the Sloan Foundation and director of the Sloan Research Fellowship program. “The rigorous selection process and the prominence of past awardees make the Sloan Research Fellowships one of the most prestigious awards available to young researchers.”

UW–Madison’s 2017 Sloan Fellows are Darcie Moore and Steven Sam.

Moore, an assistant professor of neuroscience, studies aging neural stem cells, revealing how they lose their ability to produce healthy daughter cells as they age. Sam, an assistant professor of mathematics, does pure math research to develop tools for analyzing stabilization phenomena in abstract algebra.

Each fellow receives $60,000 in research funding from the foundation, which has awarded Sloan Research Fellowships in eight scientific and technical fields —chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences and physics — since 1955.

This year, 126 U.S. and Canadian researchers were honored by the New York-based, nonprofit philanthropic organization. The list of past winners includes 43 who would eventually win a Nobel Prize. Since 1934, the Sloan Foundation has made grants in support of research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance.