FACULTY AWARD: Charikar and Spitkovsky receive Simons Investigators awards

By Staff on July 30, 2014, 4:45 p.m.

Two Princeton University researchers have been selected to receive 2014 Simons Investigators awards, which are presented by the New York-based Simons Foundation to outstanding scientists nationwide engaged in mathematics, theoretical physics, theoretical computer science, and mathematical modeling of living systems. Moses Charikar, a professor of computer science, was recognized as "one of the world's leading experts on the design of approximation algorithms." Anatoly Spitkovsky, an associate professor of astrophysical sciences, was cited for his work with "large-scale computer simulations of astrophysical plasmas [that] have been instrumental in bringing a new level of quantitative precision to the field." The awards provide $100,000 annually for an initial five years and can be renewed for an additional five years. Four Princeton faculty members received a Simons Investigators award in 2012, the program's inaugural year.

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