VILLANOVA, Pa. – Two Villanova University professors have been named recipients of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award to advance research in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI) and neurobiology. Edward Kim, PhD, assistant professor of Computing Sciences, will focus on the development of a radically new AI framework that should mimic and model human intelligence and behavior. Troy Shirangi, PhD, assistant professor of Biology, will study the role genes play in creating and producing instinctive behaviors.
NSF CAREER awards are conferred “in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization,” according to the NSF. Both professors received five-year grants, Kim for $494,966 and Shirangi for $645,320.
Since 2017, five Villanova faculty members have received NSF CAREER Awards. In addition to Kim and Shirangi, Wenqing Xu, PhD (assistant professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering), Jacob Elmer, PhD (assistant professor of chemical engineering), and Janette Herbers, PhD (assistant professor of psychological and brain sciences) have been recipients of CAREER awards.
“The selection of these two Villanova professors as NSF CAREER Award recipients highlights the talent and impact of our outstanding teacher-scholars,” said Amanda Grannas, PhD, Associate Vice Provost for Research and professor of Chemistry. Grannas, a 2006 recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, continued, “This award has a transformative effect on the research trajectory of early-career faculty. We congratulate Dr. Kim and Dr. Shirangi on this remarkable achievement.”