Two members of UC Santa Barbara's faculty have been named recipients of the U.S. Department of Energy's Early Career Research Program awards. Assistant professors Nathaniel Craig in the Department of Physics and Matthew Helgeson in the Department of Engineering are among 44 young scientists and engineers from across the nation selected to receive this year's awards.

"We are very pleased that UCSB is one of only two universities with two assistant professors receiving these prestigious early career awards," said Michael Witherell, vice-chancellor for research at UCSB. "We continue to attract some of the top scientists and engineers in the country, doing forefront research on a wide range of problems, from the Higgs boson to polymeric fluids."

Awardees were selected from a large pool of university- and national laboratory-based applicants. Selection was based on peer review by outside scientific experts. Under the program, university-based researchers will receive at least $150,000 per year to cover summer salary and research expenses.