A faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin who works to improve the security and reliability of computer software systems has been awarded a Sloan Research Fellowship for 2015.

Işil Dillig is an assistant professor in the department of computer science who develops tools and novel techniques that enable software systems to automatically detect errors and vulnerabilities in programming. She will receive $50,000 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to further her research.

Sloan research fellowships are awarded annually to honor early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars. Dillig is among 126 U.S. and Canadian researchers to receive an award this year.

"For more than 50 years the Sloan Foundation has been proud to celebrate the achievements of extraordinary young scientists who are pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge," said Dr. Paul L. Joskow, President of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

Since the awards began in 1955, 43 former fellows have gone on to receive a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 16 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics and 65 have received the National Medal of Science.