Two UBC researchers have been named among the most promising early-career scholars in North America by the Alfred P Sloan Foundation.
Russ Algar (Chemistry) and Mark Schmidt (Computer Science) have been honoured with Sloan Research Fellowships by the US foundation. They join 126 outstanding U.S. and Canadian researchers selected from 60 colleges and universities in 2017.
Winners receive a $60,000 fellowship to further their research.
Algar’s labworks at the interface of bioanalytical, physical and materials chemistry—developing luminescent materials such as quantum dots, polymer dots, and lanthanide complexes as components of novel point-of-care diagnostics, cellular probes and other forms of bioanalysis.
Schmidt’s research focuses on machine learning, numerical optimization, probabilistic graphical models and causality.
“The Sloan Research Fellows are the rising stars of the academic community,” says Paul L Joskow, President of the Alfred P Sloan Foundation. “Through their achievements and ambition, these young scholars are transforming their fields and opening up entirely new research horizons. We are proud to support them at this crucial stage of their careers.”
The Sloan Foundation was founded in 1934 by Alfred P Sloan Jr, then-president and CEO of General Motors. Twenty-two UBC Science researchers have been awarded the fellowship since 1984.
