PHILADELPHIA -– Tobias Baumgart, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, and Joachim Krieger, assistant professor of mathematics at Penn, have been named Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellows for 2008.

The Sloan Research Fellowships honor scientists for research at the frontiers of physics, chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics and neuroscience with a two-year, $50,000 grant administered by each Fellow’s institution. Sloan Research Fellows are free to pursue what interests them, and they are permitted to employ Fellowship funds in a wide variety of ways to further their research. Sloan Fellowships are awarded to faculty members at an early stage of their scientific careers and are intended to identify highly promising individuals across the sciences.

Baumgart was honored for his research into the biophysical properties that define the composition and function of lipid bilayer membranes.

Krieger studies partial differential equations, mathematical physics, harmonic analysis and differential geometry.

"It is extremely gratifying to see both Dr. Baumgart and Dr. Krieger’s endeavors recognized alongside that of other distinguished young scholars," said David P. Balamuth, associate dean of Penn’s School of Arts and Sciences. "This is an extremely prestigious award and is well deserved by these outstanding researchers whose work enriches our understanding of the physical world and inspires others to expand the boundaries of basic science.''

The Sloan Research Fellowships have been awarded since 1955, initially in physics, chemistry and mathematics. Since then, 35 Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in their fields, and 14 have received the Fields Medal, the top honor in mathematics. Although Sloan Research Fellowships in economics began only in 1983, since then Sloan Fellows have accounted for eight of the 13 winners of the John Bates Clark Medal, generally considered the top honor for young economists.