Going Green: Lab Achieves SustainNU Certification
We are excited to share that our lab has officially earned Green Labs certification through sustainNU!
This achievement reflects our commitment to sustainable practices in the lab, with our team completing the applicable actions required for certification. Special thanks to Elisabeth Latawiec, our Green Labs liaison, and alum Nikolai Tcyrulnikov for leading this initiative, as well as all our lab members for their dedication to making environmentally conscious choices.
We are proud to be part of this program and look forward to continuing our efforts toward sustainability. Stay tuned for our profile on the SustainNU website!
Congratulations to Dr. Yuheng (Oscar) Huang!
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Oscar Huang has successfully defended his PhD on Thursday, December 5th, 2024! Dr. Huang’s research focused on interrogation of quantumness within chemical systems using various spectroscopic techniques. In connecting quantum objects familiar to chemists (electrons) to the burgeoning field of quantum information, his work provides valuable insights to chemists interested in exploring electron spins as a potential qubit state space.
We are proud of Oscar’s accomplishments and excited to see his future contributions as he joins Professor Xuedan Ma’s quantum optics group at Rice University to explore novel properties in cutting-edge materials. Please join us in celebrating this outstanding achievement!
Jonathan Palmer Recipient of Burwell Fellowship
We are thrilled to announce that Jonathan Palmer has been awarded the prestigious Robert L. Burwell Jr. Fellowship!
This fellowship, named after one of Northwestern’s most distinguished Physical Chemistry faculty members, recognizes excellence in the field of physical chemistry. Jonathan’s dedication and achievements exemplify the qualities this award seeks to honor, and we are proud to see his hard work acknowledged in this way.
Congratulations, Jonathan, on this well-deserved recognition!
Congratulations to Dr. Nikolai Tcyrulnikov
Congratulations to Dr. Nikolai Tcyrulnikov on his new role as Senior Scientist in Ocular Materials at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.! In the Wasielewski group, Nikolai focused on the synthesis, characterization, and investigation of functional organic electron donor-acceptor molecules for applications in molecular Quantum Information Science. As a senior member of the group, he played a vital role in mentoring other members and overseeing the operations of our synthesis laboratories.
We wish him all the best in this exciting next chapter of his career!
Congratulations to Dr. Shunta Nakamura!
Congratulations to Dr. Shunta Nakamura on his new position as an assistant professor at Tokushima University in Japan! During his time in the Wasielewski Lab, Shunta made significant contributions to synthesizing innovative molecules for solar energy conversion, quantum information processing, and luminescent radical projects.
We are excited to see Shunta’s continued success and impact in the field!
Royal Society of Chemistry Poster Award Winner
Congratulations to Hannah Eckvahl who received the Royal Society of Chemistry Nanoscale Award at the Spin Chemistry Meeting in Kobe, Japan! Her award-winning poster, “Direct Observation of Chirality Induced Spin Selectivity in Electron Donor-Acceptor Molecules,” showcases groundbreaking research in spin chemistry.
Congratulations to Dr. James O'Connor!
We are ecstatic to announce that Dr. James O’Connor successfully defended his Ph.D. on Wednesday, September 11th, 2024! Dr. O’Connor’s research examined the subtle boundary between vibrational and electronic energy states within model organic systems utilizing ultrafast spectroscopy on the order of femtoseconds. His work in this regard has clear applications within the fields of both solar energy and quantum information.
We are overjoyed with all of the accomplishments Dr. O’Connor has had here at Northwestern University and eagerly await hearing about the further ones that are sure to come. Please join us in celebrating this phenomenal milestone!
Congratulations to Dr. Malik Williams!
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Malik Williams successfully defended his PhD on Friday, August 16th, 2024! Dr. Williams’s research explored the intricate dynamics of singlet fission (SF) and charge transfer (CT) in organic semiconductor systems, focusing on organic single crystals and Donor-Acceptor co-crystals. His work applied advanced spectroscopic techniques and theoretical analyses to deepen our understanding of these processes, with implications for improving photovoltaic devices.
We are proud of Dr. Williams’s achievements and look forward to his future contributions to the field. Please join us in celebrating this remarkable milestone!
Congratulations to Dr. Paige Brown!
We are excited to announce that Dr. Paige Brown successfully defended her PhD on Friday, August 9th, 2024! Dr. Brown joined the Wasielewski group in July 2019, where she made significant contributions by constructing a novel instrument setup using Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance (ODMR) techniques to study intriguing spin systems for applications in Quantum Information Science. Her research on novel singlet fission chromophores, aimed at the use of films and single crystals for solar cell device fabrication, has also been groundbreaking.
We are incredibly proud of Dr. Brown’s achievements and can’t wait to watch her continue to excel in her career. Please join us in celebrating this remarkable milestone in her academic journey!
Congratulations Dr. Yunfan "Frank" Qiu!
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Yunfan “Frank” Qiu has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Utah State University. Frank joined the chemistry department at Northwestern University as a post-doc, where his groundbreaking work in synthetic photochemistry and spin chemistry has greatly contributed to our research community. We wish him the best of luck in his new role and look forward to seeing his continued success and innovations in the field of chemistry.
Thank You & Farewell, Corey!
On Friday, March 15, 2024 the Waz Group bid their Program Coordinator farewell. Corey has accepted a position at the International Institute of Nanotechnology and will be missed. Come back to visit!
James O'Connor named ACS Leader Scholar
Congratulations to 5th-year James O’Connor for being selected as one of the Leader Scholars by the American Chemical Society. This unique fellowship is awarded to undergraduates and graduate students in the chemical sciences who are interested in professional development, leadership training, and networking. Benefits of this fellowship program include professional identity development including a focus on creating individual development plans and fellowship funding of up to $5,000 to support education and training. Way to go, James!
Congratulations Dr. Jillian Bradley!
Congratulations to Dr. Jillian Bradley who successfully defended her PhD on Monday, December 4th 2023! Dr. Bradley joined the Wasielewski group in Fall 2018, where she primarily studied photoexcited radical cations as driving forces for oxidative catalysis. We can’t wait to watch Jillian continue to excel in her career.
Dr. Wasielewski named a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate
Did you know that there are roughly 9M researchers working globally? Of the world’s population of scientists and social scientists, Highly Cited Researchers are 1 in 1,000. Congratulations to Dr. Wasielewski for being named one of those 1,000.
Review the entire list here: ow.ly/t3R950Q7Ptx
Congratulations Dr. Emmaline Lorenzo and Dr. Jeremy Fisher
Some of our lab group gathered to celebrate Dr. Jeremy Fisher and Dr. Emmaline Lorenzo, as they both successfully completed their PhDs! We’re proud of all of the hard work you’ve both put in with us and we’re excited to see where your tremendous talents take you. Come back and visit us!
Congratulations to Dr. Emmaline Lorenzo and Dr. Jeremy Fisher.
Emmaline Lorenzo Recipient of the Gelewitz Award
We’re proud to announce that Emmaline Lorenzo, a 5th year in our group, is a 2023 winner of the Gelewitz Award in the Chemistry Department. This award is presented annually to two outstanding senior graduate students in chemistry. The endowment was established in 1953 in honor of Edmund W. Gelewitz. From these funds, two awards are set aside for senior graduate students who demonstrate excellence in research and are active in the Northwestern chemistry department and the greater chemical community. A well-deserved congratulations to Emmaline!
Congratulations, Dr. Eunice Bae!
Waz group alumn, Dr. Youn Jun (Eunice) Bae has been appointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University starting in January 2024 (https://bae-lab-at-cornell.org/home). We wish her our most sincere congratulations and look forward to watching her continue her outstanding work.
Paige Brown Recipient of Burwell Fellowship
The Robert L. Burwell Jr. Fellowship is named for one of Northwestern’s most distinguished Physical Chemistry faculty who served in the department for over 40 years (1939-1980). The award recognizes both scientific excellence in physical chemistry as well as departmental engagement and leadership, both of which Paige has exhibited here at Northwestern over the past several years. Therefore, we are very pleased to report that Paige has been awarded this fellowship for this academic year.
June 2023 Hooding Ceremony
Dr. Eunice Bae and Dr. Haochuan Mao were hooded this past weekend. Congratulations to them both!
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
The National Science Foundation has named Jon Palmer as a winner and Sam Tyndall as an honorable mention of the Graduate Research Fellowship (GRFP). GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high-achieving scientists and engineers, early in their careers.
Congratulations, Jon and Sam!
Congratulations, Dr. Natalia Powers-Riggs
Another congratulations is in order to Waz Group alumna Dr. Natalia Powers-Riggs who is also accepting an Assistant Professor position. Natalia will be working in the Department of Chemistry at the University of San Francisco. We’re incredibly happy to celebrate our alumni! Natalia’s research is focused on exploring structure and function of assembled photosynthetic mimics in order to develop design principles for complex architectures with efficient light absorption.
Congratulations, Dr. Powers-Riggs!
Welcome first-years!
A big welcome to our new first-year PhD students: Kate Peinkofer, Justin Bye, Georgia Mantel, and Qinghua Yang. The Waz group is thrilled to have you join us and we look forward to all of the incredible research we will embark upon together in the coming years.
To learn more about Kate, Justin, Georgia, and Qinghua- check out our Meet the Group page!
Congratulations Dr. Carolyn Ramirez!
Dr. Carolyn Ramirez had her hooding ceremony with the McCormick School of Engineering on December 10th, 2022. In the Waz group, Carolyn’s research was focused on characterizing the excited-state dynamics of thin films organic semiconductors in order to better understand and design new organic photovoltaic devices. These phenomena ranged from symmetry-breaking charge separation in the solid-state to enhanced intersystem crossing in films for triplet generation.
She now works at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) as a staff scientist. Stay in touch, Dr. Ramirez!
Congratulations to Dr. Chenjian Lin!
It’s been a celebratory week at the Waz group, with another member successfully defending his PhD on November 17th! In the Wasielewski group, he synthesized molecules and studied singlet fission and symmetry-breaking charge separation using ultrafast optical spetroscopies. In January 2023, he will begin his postdoc at Purdue University under the supervision of Prof. Letian Dou.
Congratulations to Dr. Chenjian Lin.
Congratulations to Dr. Haochuan Mao!
Haochuan successfully defended his thesis on November 15. In Wasielewski’s group, he studied spin dynamics of weakly coupled two or three spin systems for quantum information science applications. In December, he will move to San Diego to begin his postdoc journey, studying 2D-IR of vibrational polaritons in Wei Xiong’s group at UCSD
Northwestern Receives ERC Synergy Grant in Quantum Science
Northwestern University is among twenty-nine groups backed by European Research Council (ERC) Synergy Grants to tackle complex research questions. Recipients were announced Tuesday, October 25, 2022. This six-year grant for nine-million euros was awarded to a team of four Principal Investigators including Michael R. Wasielewski.
Read the full article by Julianne Beck on the CMQT website.
Celebrating Professor Wasielewski
This morning it was announced that Professor Wasielewski won the 2022 Royal Society of Chemistry Faraday Lectureship Prize for contributions toward understanding electron spin dynamics in molecular systems for applications in quantum information science. Read the full article on the Royal Society of Chemistry website.
Welcome to our new grad students!
We’re excited to announce three new graduate members of the Waz Group! Welcome to Sam Tyndall, Jon Palmer and Karen Ji.
Congrats to Dr. Michele Myong!
Michele defended her thesis on August 17th. In the Wasielewski group, she studied the effects of intermolecular orientation on the excimer and exciton dynamics in supramolecular assemblies. In September, she will begin a postdoc at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the Electron- and Photo-Induced Processes Group under the supervision of Dr. Matthew Bird.
Professor Wasielewski Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Congratulations to Professor Wasielewski on his election as a member to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. Membership in the academy is one of the highest honors given to a scientist in the United States. The National Academy of Science is a private, non-profit institution that was established under a Congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and provides science advice to the federal government and other organizations.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
We will be hosting our 3rd Annual Center for Molecular Quantum Transduction (CMQT) Symposium in late October 2023. Check back for more details soon!