Twelve junior faculty members will be awarded prizes for their research and teaching Wednesday night, Dean of Undergraduate Education Joseph Gordon told the News.

The Greer, Heyman and Poorvu prizes are intended to give “early public recognition” to the accomplishments of untenured ladder faculty members, Gordon said. The prizes come with research funds to allow winners to continue their work, he added. In general, research funds are easier for senior professors to come by, Gordon said, making the prizes important to enable junior faculty to extend their work or undertake new projects.

“These prizes can be career-changing,” Yale College Dean Mary Miller said. “They are not only the sum of those who win them, but they are the inspiration for future junior faculty.”

Miller called the Poorvu prize, which is given to junior faculty who excel in teaching interdisciplinary material, a “call” and a “challenge” to future teachers to develop interdisciplinary courses and reap the reward. The Greer and Heyman prizes recognize faculty for their research in the humanities and natural and social sciences.

Read the list of winners below:

The Arthur Greer Memorial Prize in the Natural or Social Sciences:

Mike McGovern, assistant professor of anthropology

André Taylor, assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering

Ebonya Washington, associate professor of economics

Elsa Yan, assistant professor of chemistry

The Samuel and Ronnie Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication or Research in the Humanities:

Brian Kane, assistant professor of music

Barry McCrea, associate professor of comparative literature

Alan Mikhail, assistant professor of history

Paul North, assistant professor of German

Irene Peirano, assistant professor of classics

The Poorvu Family Prize for Interdisciplinary Teaching:

Paige McGinley, assistant professor of African and American studies

GerShun Avilez, assistant professor of English and African American studies

J. D. Connor, assistant professor of history of art