CSE scientist receives presidential
award for advancement of science
Physicist Robin Santra has received the Presidential Early Career Award for
Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) to recognize his contribution to the
advancement of science.
The Presidential Awards are intended to recognize and nurture some of the
finest scientists and engineers who, while early in their research careers, show
exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge
during the 21st century. The Presidential Award is the highest honor bestowed by
the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning
their independent careers.
“These awards recognize some of the outstanding people affiliated with the
Department of Energy whose extraordinary talents are discovering the solutions
to power and secure America 's future,” said Secretary of Energy Samuel W.
Bodman. “Each honoree has made a unique contribution to fulfilling the
department's mission and to enhancing scientific knowledge at large. I am proud
of the awardees and appreciative of their efforts.”
Santra was recognized for theoretical contributions to the field of atomic,
molecular and optical science in the areas of high-order harmonic generation and
strong-field absorption and ionization; and for scientific mentoring of students
and the public.
Santra received his Ph.D. in theoretical chemical physics from the
University
of Heidelberg in 2001. As a postdoctoral researcher, he worked at JILA,
which is jointly operated by the
University of Colorado and the
National Institute of Standards
and Technology, and at the
Institute for
Theoretical Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics at the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics. Santra joined Argonne National Laboratory in 2005. In
2007, he was awarded by the
International Union of Pure and Applied Physics the Young Scientist Prize in
Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. He has published more than 60
peer-reviewed articles and has given 50 invited presentations.
Also receiving a PECASE award this year was Yugang Sun of Argonne's Center
for Nanoscale Materials.
The winning scientists are among 68 researchers supported by nine federal
departments and agencies who received the award. In addition to a citation and a
plaque, each PECASE winner receives up to five years of funding from their
agency to advance his or her research. John Marburger, Science Advisor to the
President and Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, presented
the awards.
—Excerpted from Argonne National Laboratory news
release, December 19, 2008. |