Three Yale Faculty Members Named Sloan Research Fellows

Early-career professors honored for promising research in economics, neuroscience, and materials science.

Published on Feb. 20, 2026

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

Three Yale faculty members - John Eric Humphries, Liang Liang, and Diana Y. Qiu - have been awarded prestigious Sloan Research Fellowships, which recognize some of the most promising early-career researchers in the United States and Canada. The $75,000 fellowships will support their work in economics, neuroscience, and materials science, respectively.

Why it matters

The Sloan Research Fellowships are highly competitive and considered a major career milestone for young academics. The recognition of these three Yale professors highlights the university's strength in cultivating innovative research talent across diverse scientific fields.

The details

Humphries, an assistant professor of economics, studies how public policy impacts economic opportunity for children, families, and young adults. Liang, an assistant professor of neuroscience, aims to uncover how the brain processes visual information and maintains adaptability. Qiu, an assistant professor of materials science, develops tools to understand and engineer novel quantum-level properties in materials.

  • The Sloan Research Fellowships were awarded in 2026.

The players

John Eric Humphries

An assistant professor of economics in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yale University.

Liang Liang

An assistant professor of neuroscience at the Yale School of Medicine and a member of the Wu Tsai Institute.

Diana Y. Qiu

An assistant professor of materials science at the Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science and a member of the Materials Science Department and the Energy Sciences Institute.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

The takeaway

The recognition of these three Yale professors as Sloan Research Fellows highlights the university's strength in cultivating innovative research talent across diverse scientific fields, from economics and neuroscience to materials science.