Martin Claassen and Jiaoyang Huang named 2024 Sloan Research Fellows
Two from Penn honored as early career researchers and scholars for their accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become leaders in their fields.
Martin Claassen of the School of Arts & Sciences and Jiaoyang Huang of the Wharton School each has been selected to receive a 2024 Sloan Research Fellowship, which recognizes early career scientists in North America. They are among 126 chosen this year to receive the two-year, $75,000 fellowship, in recognition of their accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become leaders in their fields.
Martin Claassen is an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the School of Arts & Sciences. His research focuses on emergent phases and dynamics in quantum materials, a class of materials with properties such as superconductivity or magnetism that arise from the collective quantum-mechanical behavior of electrons. Combining theory and computational techniques, his group's work includes predicting new and useful quantum phenomena in tunable layered structures of two-dimensional materials, understanding geometric or topological aspects of the behavior of many electrons in solids, or devising routes to control materials using strong light pulses. Claassen is also a recipient of the 2023 Department of Energy Early Career Award.
Jiaoyang Huang is an assistant professor in the Department of Statistics and Data Science at the Wharton School. His research focuses on random matrix theory, a mathematical theory with widespread use in modern fields of science and engineering. His work further develops random matrix theory to address questions concerning the universal behavior of sparse random graphs and interacting particle systems, which have profound implications in graph theory, network theory, and mathematical physics. His interests also include statistical learning theory, where he develops new tools to understand the training dynamics of deep neural networks. Huang’s work has been supported by the National Science Foundation. Additionally, he received the Bernoulli Society New Researcher Award in 2024, was a finalist of the Blavatnik Regional Awards in 2022, and was a Simons Junior Fellow from 2020 to 2022.
Since first awarded in 1955, Sloan Research Fellowships have gone to 131 faculty from Penn. It is among the most competitive awards available to researchers in North America.
Open to scholars in chemistry, computer science, earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics, Sloan Research Fellowships are awarded in coordination with the scientific community. Candidates must be nominated by fellow scientists, and recipients are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based on research accomplishments, creativity, and potential to become leaders in their fields.
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