By Newsgram Staff Writer

Nine Indian-Americans from various US and Canadian colleges have been awarded the prestigious $50,000 Sloan Research Fellowships.

Out of the 126 scholars, the nine Indian-American winners are Nandini Ananth, Prabal Dutta, Shyam Gollakota, Shantanu Jadhav, Hemamala Karunadasa, Neal Mankad, Suresh Naidu, Padmini Rangamani, Vivek Shende

The fellowships started by Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1955, are awarded in eight scientific and technical fields-chemistry, computer science, economics, mathematics, computational and evolutionary molecular biology, neuroscience, ocean sciences, and physics to the next generation of scientific leaders.

"The beginning of a one's career is a crucial time in the life of a scientist. Building a lab, attracting funding in an increasingly competitive environment, and securing tenure all depend on doing innovative, original high-quality work and having that work recognized," said the Foundation President Dr. Paul L. Joskow.

The fellowship is given to only the truly deserving a proof of which is that 43 fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 16 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, 65 have received the National Medal of Science, and 14 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, including every winner since 2007.