Sebastian Klinge awarded Sloan Research Fellowship

Rockefeller’s Sebastian Klinge, who joined the faculty in September, will be the recipient of one of the most distinguished awards for early-career scientists from the United States and Canada, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship. Klinge is among 126 scholars from a range of scientific disciplines to be recognized for their promise as the next generation of scientific leaders. He will receive $50,000 over two years to further his research on the structure and function of ribosomes, the cell’s protein factories.

Klinge, who was awarded in the computational and evolutionary molecular biology category, is head of the Laboratory of Protein and Nucleic Acid Chemistry at Rockefeller. The lab is working to solve the structure of the macromolecules that catalyze key steps of ribosome creation in cells. Because the ribosome plays a critical role in life, understanding how ribosomes “mature” has the potential to unlock biological secrets that are relevant to studies of genetics and gene regulation.

The fellowships are presented by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a philanthropic, not-for-profit institution based in New York City which makes grants in support of original research and education in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and economic performance. Established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr., then-president and CEO of the General Motors Corporation, the foundation has awarded more than 4,200 fellowships — nearly $119 million of support.

Klinge, an assistant professor at Rockefeller, has been the recipient of fellowships from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Molecular Biology Organization and the Human Frontier Science Program. Eighteen Rockefeller scientists have been given Sloan fellowships since the award was established in 1955, including Vanessa Ruta in 2013 and Gaby Maimon in 2012.