Eleven MIT researchers from eight School of Science and School of Engineering departments are among the 126 American and Canadian researchers awarded 2016 Sloan Research Fellowships, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced today.

New MIT-affiliated Sloan Research Fellows are: Otto X. Cordero, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering; Vadim Gorin, an assistant professor of mathematics; R. Scott Kemp, the Norman C. Rasmussen Assistant Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT and director of the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy; Yen-Jie Lee, an assistant professor of physics; Gene-Wei Li, an assistant professor of biology; Aleksander Madry, the NBX Career Development Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Ankur Moitra, an assistant professor of mathematics; Yogesh Surendranath, an assistant professor of chemistry; William A. Tisdale, an assistant professor of chemical engineering; Mark Vogelsberger, an assistant professor of physics; and Jing-Ke Weng, the Thomas D. and Virginia W. Cabot Assistant Professor of biology.

Awarded annually since 1955, the Sloan Research Fellowships are given to early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars among the next generation of scientific leaders. This year’s recipients are drawn from 52 colleges and universities across the United States and Canada.

“Getting early-career support can be a make-or-break moment for a young scholar,” said Paul L. Joskow, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in a press release. “In an increasingly competitive academic environment, it can be difficult to stand out, even when your work is first rate. The Sloan Research Fellowships have become an unmistakable marker of quality among researchers. Fellows represent the best-of-the-best among young scientists.”

Administered and funded by the foundation, the fellowships are awarded in eight scientific fields: chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, evolutionary and computational molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics. To qualify, candidates must first be nominated by fellow scientists and subsequently selected by an independent panel of senior scholars. Fellows receive $50,000 to be used to further their research.

Since the beginning of the program, 43 Sloan Fellows have earned Nobel Prizes, 16 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 68 have received the National Medal of Science, and 15 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics.

For a complete list of this year’s winners, visit the Sloan Research Fellowships website.