Five University of California plant scientists have been named Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (HHMI-GBMF) Investigators — one-third of all of the appointments.

Nationwide, only 15 HHMI-GBMF Investigators have been selected from 239 applicants "who have led independent laboratories at one of the approximately 200 U.S. medical schools, universities and research institutes that are eligible for this competition."

The new initiative boosts funding for fundamental plant science research, supported with $75 million from Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation over the next five years.

The awards for the 15 HHMI-GBMF Investigators will cover their salaries and benefits for five years and provide funds for equipment and lab space and to support their research.

UC investigators include:

UC Berkeley
Krishna Niyogi

UC Davis
Simon Chan
Jorge Dubcovsky

UC Riverside
Xuemei Chen

UC San Diego
Mark Estelle

For more information, view the HHMI press release.