Four Cornell University faculty members have been selected to receive Sloan Foundation Research Fellowships, the Sloan Foundation has announced.

They are: Geoffrey W. Coates, assistant professor of chemistry and chemical biology; Irena Peeva, assistant professor of mathematics; Bart Selman, associate professor of computer science; and Michelle D. Wang, assistant professor of physics.

The four were among the 100 outstanding young scientists and economists selected as Sloan Fellows this year, representing faculty from 52 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The fellows are engaged in research at the frontiers of physics, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, neuroscience and economics. The fellowships, totaling $3.5 million this year, allow scientists to continue their research with $35,000 each over two years. Fellows are free to pursue whatever lines of inquiry are of most interest to them.

Coates, who joined the Cornell faculty in 1997, focuses his research on the development of new synthetic strategies for producing polymers of defined structure. One topic that is being intensely investigated in his research group is the development of catalysts for the synthesis of polymers from biorenewable resources, such as carbon dioxide and lactic acid.

Peeva joined the mathematics department as an assistant professor in July 1998. Her research involves problems lying at the interface between several mathematical areas: Commutative algebra, algebraic geometry, topology and combinatorics. Over the next two years, she will pursue research on free resolutions, Hilbert schemes and toric varieties.

Selman joined Cornell's computer science faculty in 1997, specializing in artificial intelligence. One of his areas of research involves giving computers the capability to learn from experience and to do certain forms of unrestricted reasoning. He also is exploring connections between computer science and physics, in particular, the area of statistical physics, which is providing important new insights into problems that lie at the core of computer science. His research also involves faster randomized algorithms to support general planning and reasoning capabilities used in the design of more flexible software systems.

A member of the Cornell physics faculty since July 1998, Wang studies biological molecular motors, especially those involved in gene expression, at the single molecule level. Molecular motors are involved in virtually every aspect of life, converting chemical energy into mechanical movement and generating forces and displacements. Wang's laboratory designs and uses optical instrumentation that permits direct detection of the mechanical and kinetic events of individual motor molecules.

Selection of young scientists as Sloan Fellows is based on exceptional promise to contribute to the advancement of knowledge. More than 400 scientists were nominated this year by department chairs and other senior scholars familiar with the researchers' talents. A committee consisting of 18 distinguished scientists, which this year included John C. Clardy, Cornell professor of chemistry and chemical biology, reviewed the nominations.