News & Notes: Sloan Fellowships go to three U. scholars

The highly competitive $50,000 grants, awarded over two years, are designed to help fuel research in science, mathematics and economics. They have been awarded since 1955.

Third-year postdoctoral fellow Andrei Bernevig was awarded the fellowship for his research in condensed-matter physics. Bernevig, who has worked at the Princeton Center for Theoretical Physics since 2006, will become an assistant professor in the physics department next fall.

William Jones ’98 is a first-year physics professor studying observational cosmology. He is currently “using the large-scale polarization of the cosmic microwave background radiation as a laboratory for probing the physics of the embryonic universe,” according to a University statement.

Electrical engineering professor Andrew Houck ’00, who is also in his first year as a University professor, focuses on the quantum properties of electronics. Houck was the valedictorian of the Class of 2000.

Physics professor Zahid Hasan will use the grant to continue his research, which uses “high-energy accelerators to study fundamental quantum effects in exotic superconductors, topological insulators and quantum magnets in connection with developing new methods of quantum computing,” according to the statement.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation awarded 118 fellowships this year. Other institutions with four winners include UCLA and the University of Wisconsin. Seven fellowships each were awarded to scholars from UC Berkeley and Harvard, six were awarded to scholars from MIT, and five were awarded to scholars from the University of Chicago.