The National Academy of Sciences has honored Frank Tong, associate professor of psychology at Vanderbilt University, with its 2010 Troland Research Award.
Troland Research Awards of $50,000 each are given annually to young investigators (age 40 and under) to recognize unusual achievement and to further empirical research within the broad spectrum of experimental psychology. Past Vanderbilt Department of Psychology Troland recipients are Isabel Gauthier, professor of psychology, 2008, former faculty member Marvin Chun, now a professor of psychology at Yale University, 2006, and E. Bronson Ingram Professor of Neuroscience Jeffrey Schall, 1998.
“I am so proud and pleased for Frank and for our distinguished colleagues,” Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said. “What an amazing achievement and what an affirmation of the culture and intellectual environment in psychology and related areas at Vanderbilt.”
Tong is being honored for pioneering the use of neural decoding techniques to explore mechanisms in the human brain mediating perception, attention and object recognition. Tong is one of 17 researchers honored by the academy with various awards in recognition of extraordinary scientific achievements in the areas of biology, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and psychology. An awards ceremony for the recipients will take place on April 25 during the academy‘s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Media contact: Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu