Recognizing innovative research, DuPont has named nine young faculty members to its 2015 Class of DuPont Young Professors. The company will provide this outstanding international and interdisciplinary group with over $400,000 during the next two years to support their research that advances basic science knowledge to address global challenges in food, energy and protection.

Research interests of the 2015 class of DuPont Young Professors represent key components of DuPont science and engineering, and include cutting-edge work in the fields of plant biology and reproduction, nutrition science, biotechnology, materials science, photovoltaics and chemical engineering. These interests are highly aligned with DuPont’s strategic priorities of science-based innovation in the areas of agriculture and nutrition, bio-based industrials and advanced materials.

“Cutting-edge science and engineering, innovative new technology applications and strong collaborations form the core of science-based innovation at DuPont,” said DuPont Senior Vice President and Chief Science & Technology Officer Douglas Muzyka. “The DuPont Young Professor program provides an excellent way to strengthen academic research by supporting promising young researchers and stimulating collaboration.”

The overarching goal of this program is to help promising young and untenured research faculty begin their research careers. The DuPont Young Professor program dates to 1918, when Pierre S. du Pont selected 42 universities in the United States and provided grants that supported young faculty. Since 1968, this program has provided over $50 million in grants to more than 700 young professors in 140 institutions in 19 countries.

Members of the DuPont Young Professor Class of 2015 are key scientists on the staff of nine leading universities on four continents around the world. This year, awards were made to the following promising young faculty:

• Roberto Fritsche-Neto, Luiz de Queiroz College of Agriculture, University of São Paulo, Brazil
• Caixia Gao, Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
• Andrew Goodman, School of Medicine, Yale University, U.S.
• Gianni Liti, Institute of Research on Cancer and Aging, The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), France
• Chang Liu, Departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, U.S.
• Bradley Olsen, Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, U.S.
• Bjørn Pedersen, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Denmark
• William Philip, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Notre Dame, U.S.
• Barry Rand, Department of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, U.S.

In addition to providing unrestricted funding to new faculty, this prestigious program enables DuPont to build a foundation for future discussions and research partnerships with these selected emerging, global academic leaders. Professors are nominated by a member of the DuPont technical staff and the nominator serves as the liaison between the company and the faculty member. During the two-year award, each grant recipient is invited to present a seminar on his or her work to the DuPont research community.