February 25, 2008

UCSB Mathematician Awarded Sloan Fellowship

Gail Gallessich

Paolo Cascini, assistant professor of mathematics at UC Santa Barbara, has won a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Cascini is one of 118 young scientists, mathematicians, and economists to be awarded the fellowship this year. Seventeen of the awards went to UC researchers; University of California faculty members received more Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowships than any other university this year.

Fellows can use their two-year, $50,000 grants to pursue whatever lines of inquiry are of most interest to them. Funds are awarded directly to the Fellow's institution and may be used by the Fellow for such purposes as equipment, technical assistance, professional travel trainee support, or any other activity directly related to the Fellow's research.

Cascini won the award for his research in algebraic geometry, in particular the minimal model program. In the past two decades algebraic geometry has played a central role in mathematics due to its many applications in different fields.

Cascini is originally from Italy, where he received his bachelor's degree in mathematics at the University of Florence, in 2000. In 2002, he earned his master's degree at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University, where he went on to receive his Ph.D. in 2004. From 2004 to 2007, Cascini was a visiting assistant professor of mathematics at UCSB. In 2007, he became an assistant professor at UCSB.

Overall, the New York-based Sloan Foundation awarded $5.9 million in fellowships to faculty members at 64 colleges and universities in the United and States and Canada who are conducting research in physics, chemistry, molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematics and neuroscience.

The Sloan Research Fellowships, which support the work of exceptional young researchers early in their academic careers, have been awarded since 1955. 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.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.