Lin Tian of the University of California at Merced became the school's fourth professor in four years to receive the National Science Foundation's esteemed Faculty Early Career Development Award.

Tian, who teaches physics, earned a $450,000 grant for her theoretical research into how quantum optics can be applied to understand the behavior of nanoscale devices with the ultimate goal of establishing a foundation to build a quantum computer.

Tian joined UC Merced in July 2008 and has established a theoretical research lab with one postdoctoral student, two doctoral students and one master's degree student. She plans to bring two more students to her lab with the grant.