CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Three scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have received Sloan Foundation Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Mathematics professor Benjamin Castle, physics professor Jacob Covey and microbiology professor Wei Qin are among the 126 early-career research scientists whose “creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments make them stand out as the next generation of leaders,” according to the foundation.
Castle studies mathematical logic, with a particular interest in applying tools from logic to study other areas such as algebraic geometry and combinatorics. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of California Berkeley in 2021 and joined the U. of I. faculty in 2024.
Covey works to answer key questions in quantum physics, quantum communications and quantum information by studying atoms with “tweezers” made of focused laser beams. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2017 and joined the Illinois faculty in 2020. He holds two patents and has also received Young Investigator Awards from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research.
Qin studies marine and soil microbes and their roles in biogeochemistry, the nitrogen cycle, ecology and the environment, as well as how they adapt to environmental stress and change. He joined the faculty at the U. of I. in 2025 after earning his Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 2016. He has also been recognized with the Department of Energy Early Career Award and the Simons Foundation Early Career Award in Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Evolution.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a not-for-profit, mission-driven grantmaking institution dedicated to improving the welfare of all through the advancement of scientific knowledge. Fellows each receive a two-year, $75,000 award that can be used flexibly to advance their research.
