The New York City-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has announced that 116 young scientists and economists have been selected to receive Sloan Research Fellowships, the oldest fellows program in the United States.

The new Sloan Fellows, who are engaged in pioneering research in the fields of physics, chemistry, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, computer science, economics, mathematic, and neuroscience, will receive grants of $45,000 for a two-year period to pursue any line of research that interests them. According to foundation officials, this flexibility is often of great value to young scientists who are at a pivotal stage in establishing their own independent research projects.

"The Sloan Research Fellowships were created by Alfred P. Sloan Jr. in 1955 to provide crucial and flexible funds to outstanding researchers early in their academic careers," said Ralph E. Gomory president of the Sloan Foundation. "Through the years, these fellowships have helped the research careers of their recipients, and we are very proud to be associated with their achievements."

For a complete list of 2005 Sloan Fellows, see: http://www.sloan.org/programs/fellowshiplist.shtml.