Assistant Professor Yuan Cao
Seven UC Berkeley faculty members have been named 2026 Sloan Research Fellows, an honor widely regarded as one of the most prestigious awards for early-career researchers in the United States and Canada.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation announced this year’s 126 fellows, recognizing exceptional young scholars whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments mark them as the next generation of scientific leaders. The fellowship is especially notable for its track record: 59 past fellows have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, including UC Berkeley Professor Emeritus John Clarke, who received the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Assistant Professor Yuan Cao
Among Berkeley’s honorees is Yuan Cao, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and of Physics. Cao leads a research group investigating the remarkable electrical properties of ultra-thin, low-dimensional materials such as graphene. His work examines how stacking and twisting atomically thin layers can generate exotic states of matter, including superconductivity. He is best known for pioneering research on magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, a breakthrough that launched an entirely new direction in condensed matter physics.
“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 Stacie Bloom, president and chief executive officer of the foundation.
The recognition of Cao and his Berkeley colleagues underscores the university’s continued leadership in advancing fundamental science and engineering at the highest level.