West LA Times

UCLA has emerged as a leader among public universities in the U.S. and Canada, with six of its faculty members being awarded the prestigious 2025 Sloan Research Fellowships. This achievement places UCLA alongside UC Berkeley and the University of Texas at Austin at the top among public institutions, while only MIT and Northwestern have more fellows overall.

The Sloan Research Fellowships are recognized as some of the most competitive awards for early-career researchers, highlighting institutional excellence in fields such as chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics.

Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, emphasized the significance of these fellowships: “The Sloan Research Fellows represent the very best of early-career science, embodying the creativity, ambition, and rigor that drive discovery forward,” he said. “These extraordinary scholars are already making significant contributions, and we are confident they will shape the future of their fields in remarkable ways.”

Since their inception in 1955, UCLA has had 184 faculty members selected for these fellowships. Among them are Nobel Prize winners like astrophysicist Andrea Ghez. The fellowship provides recipients with a two-year $75,000 award to support their research endeavors.

This year's honorees from UCLA include Anton Bernshteyn (mathematics), Hao Cao (Earth sciences), Alvine Kamaha (physics), Ernest Ryu (mathematics), Yotam Shem-Tov (economics), and Chuchu Zhang (neurobiology). Each recipient is contributing significantly to their respective fields through innovative research projects.

Anton Bernshteyn's work involves descriptive set theory and combinatorics with applications across various mathematical disciplines. Hao Cao focuses on planetary magnetic fields using data from NASA missions like Juno to study Jupiter's environment.

Alvine Kamaha is involved in dark matter research through her work with LUX-ZEPLIN detector technology. Ernest Ryu's expertise lies in optimization techniques within machine learning frameworks.

Yotam Shem-Tov examines labor economics related to criminal justice systems aiming to improve reintegration programs post-incarceration. Chuchu Zhang explores sensory neuroscience behind nausea utilizing advanced genetic tools combined with animal models.

Overall this recognition underscores UCLA’s commitment towards fostering pioneering scientific advancements across diverse domains while nurturing young talent poised for impactful discoveries ahead.

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