Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes American COuncil of Learned Societies Fellowship, Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship and Humboldt Award from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Assistant professor awarded 2026 ACLS Fellowship
Gian Rominger, assistant professor in the Department of Asian Languages & Literature at the UW, was awarded a 2026 ACLS Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies. The fellowship recognizes excellence in humanities and social sciences research and supports scholars whose work is poised to make original and significant contributions to their fields. Rominger will be the 2026 ACLS Pauline Yu Fellow.
“It means a great deal to hold a fellowship in Pauline Yu’s name,” Rominger said. “Her scholarship on Chinese poetics is part of why I do this work.”
This year, the program awarded more than $3.5 million to 63 scholars selected from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants.
Rominger specializes in early Chinese literary and intellectual history. His project, “Aurality and the Search for Sound and Meaning in Early Chinese Texts,” examines how sound-based patterning shaped meaning in early Chinese philosophical texts, particularly in writings from the Warring States period to the Han dynasty.
Rominger’s research shows how early Chinese thinkers employed the sound of language not only for style but also to build arguments and express complex ideas. The project brings together close readings of ancient texts, historical reconstructions of Old Chinese pronunciation, and computational tools to offer new insight into the relationship between literary form and philosophical thought.
Postdoctoral scholar awarded Arnold O. Beckman Fellowship in Chemical Instrumentation
Jaclyn Rebstock, a UW postdoctoral scholar in chemistry, was awarded the Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chemical Instrumentation. The fellowship supports advanced research by postdoctoral scholars in fundamental chemistry and the development and construction of chemical instrumentation.
The award provides two years of funding, along with an additional $200,000 budget to support instrumentation costs.
With the fellowship, Rebstock will build a new vibrational spectroscopy instrument designed to observe chemical reactions as they happen at surfaces. The instrument will allow researchers to see how molecules move and interact in real time, offering insight into surface chemistry that could help improve technologies such as batteries and clean fuels.
This fellowship provides Rebstock with a rare opportunity to combine instrument development with fundamental chemistry questions. “I’m excited to pursue both and to explore new ways of probing the chemistry that happens at interfaces.” Rebstock said.
UW researcher receives Humboldt Research Award
Fang-Zhen Teng, a UW professor of Earth and space sciences, received a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award recognizes internationally leading researchers across all disciplines for their academic record and significant contributions to their fields.
Each year, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 100 Humboldt Research Awards to researchers from abroad. Awardees receive personal award money and are invited to carry out research projects of their choosing in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany.
Teng said he was deeply honored by the recognition and grateful to Professor Harry Becker, head of the Geochemistry Group at FU-Berlin, for the nomination. The award will allow Teng to spend extended periods over the next few years conducting research at Freie University Berlin, beginning with his sabbatical this summer.
“It is a wonderful opportunity to spend extended periods over the next few years conducting cutting-edge research at Freie University Berlin,” Teng said.
The award will also enable Teng to develop new collaborations across Germany and become part of the Humboldt Foundation’s international network of distinguished researchers.