Professors David Freedman and Supratik Guha were selected for the 2018 Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship, which funds foundational research in a variety of fields.

Professors Freedman and Guha are two of 11 scientists and engineers chosen for the award—which typically amounts to $3 million granted over five years.

In an interview with UChicago News, Freedman said that the award is meant to foster the relationship between the Department of Defense and academic researchers, in part because the two “paths don’t always cross regularly.”

Freedman studies neurobiology and focuses on the mechanisms the brain uses to adapt to its environments.

His lab aims to further the field’s understanding of how the brain develops knowledge, and to apply that understanding to the development of artificial neural networks.

Guha is a professor at the Institute for Molecular Engineering and is the director for the Center for Nanoscale Materials at Argonne National Laboratory.

His work studies new materials and devices for electronics, sensing, and energy.