Jacobs, Stache Named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows
William Jacobs and Erin Stache, both assistant professors in the Department of Chemistry, have been named 2026 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellows in Chemistry.
Awarded this year to 126 early-career scientists across the U.S. and Canada, the Sloan Research Fellowships are among the most competitive and prestigious awards available to young scholars. They acknowledge the creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments that mark these Fellows out as next-generation leaders.
The Fellowships are also seen as a hallmark of the quality of an institution’s faculty and proof of its success in attracting the most promising young researchers to its ranks.
The two-year fellowship carries a $75,000 award.
William Jacobs, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry
“I was thrilled to receive this news because it recognizes the breadth and impact of my group’s research accomplishments. This honor reflects the tremendous enthusiasm for our work from experts in our field,” said Jacobs, whose research program spans theoretical chemistry, biophysics, and materials science. “I plan to use the funds to advance my overall research program. This award complements my group’s federal funding portfolio, providing additional flexibility to pursue exciting new projects.”
Jacobs’ proposal focuses on three primary areas of research in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, multicomponent biomolecular condensates, and self-assembly kinetics. The award follows on the heels of his NSF CAREER Award in 2022 and an NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) in 2024. Jacobs joined the Department in 2019.
“I was thrilled to hear the news,” said Stache. “The Sloan Research Fellowship is an early-career award that is very prestigious and awarded to the top researchers in their discipline and I am honored to be among them. I look forward to sharing the news with my group, as it is their accomplishments being recognized.
“The generous funds provided by the Sloan Foundation offer flexibility in terms of future research directions in that they can support existing efforts or enable new high-risk project ideas. We have so many directions to pursue in our photothermal conversion program, and these funds will allow us to push the boundaries of our current work and make impactful new discoveries.”
Erin Stache, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry
Stache’s proposal focused on her lab’s contributions to photothermal conversion as applied to polymer recycling and organic synthesis. The lab’s photothermal conversion program has broad applicability to many areas of research in chemistry and encompasses the majority of research ongoing in the group.
Stache won a DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program award in 2023, and a Marion Milligan Mason Women in the Chemical Sciences award in 2024 from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She joined the Department in 2023.
Sloan Fellows are nominated each year in one of seven fields: chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience, and physics. Fellows are selected by an independent panel of senior scholars in their fields.
Stache and Jacobs are among seven Princeton University faculty named Sloan Fellows this spring. Other Princeton faculty named are: Maria Apostolaki, Benjamin Eysenbach, and Yasaman Ghasempour of the Department of Computer Science; Isobel R. Ojalvo of the Department of Physics; and Bartolomeo Stellato of the Department of Mathematics.
“The Sloan Research Fellows are among the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S. and Canada, already driving meaningful progress in their respective disciplines,” said Foundation President and CEO Stacie Bloom. “We look forward to seeing how these exceptional scholars continue to unlock news scientific advancements, redefine their fields, and foster the wellbeing and knowledge of all.”
Recent recipients of Sloan Fellowships in the Department of Chemistry include Professor of Chemistry Leslie Schoop, named a fellow in 2021; Associate Professor Ralph Kleiner, named a fellow in 2019; and Professor and Associate Department Chair Todd Hyster, named in 2018.
The Sloan Foundation’s full press release is available here.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a private, non-partisan, not-for-profit foundation based in New York City. The Foundation funds high-quality research in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics.