April 10, 2012 - 8:03am
Professor W. Seth Horne has been selected to receive a National Science Foundation CAREER award based on his proposal entitled “Supramolecular Light-Harvesting Materials from Self-Assembly of Bio-Inspired Macromolecules.”
The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research.
The five-year grant will fund Horne’s research on the development of new materials that mimic light-harvesting functions of natural photosynthetic proteins. The fundamental principles elucidated in the course of these efforts will be the foundation of a general strategy for the design and construction of protein-based supramolecular assemblies. Moreover, the light-harvesting materials will provide a model system for the study and mimicry of the energy delocalization involved in photosynthesis.