Prof's 'mission-critical' research

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Dr. Kun Wang, an assistant professor with joint appointments in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and the Department of Chemistry at Mississippi State University, is one of 51 university-employed scientists from the U.S. to receive Department of Energy early career awards for “mission-critical” research. The MSU faculty member is the recipient of $750,000 in funding from DOE’s Office of Science Early Career Research Program. The early career awards are part of DOE’s efforts to support critical research at the nation’s universities and national labs, grow a skilled STEM workforce, and cement America as a global leader in science and innovation. The program, now in its 12th, supports scientists as they begin formative work in the agency’s priority research areas.  

Wang’s project, “Probing and Understanding the Spatial and Energy Distributions of Plasmonic Hot Carriers via Single-Molecule Quantum Transport,” which is funded for five years, seeks to explore the new frontier of nanoscience and technology. Most recent research has relied only on theoretical simulations. A native of China, Wang completed a postdoctoral research fellowship in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan before joining MSU’s faculty in 2020. Wang received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Georgia and his bachelor’s degree in physics and microelectronics from Shandong University in Jinan, China. (Source: MSU 06/02/21) Emerging ‘new frontier’ of nanoscience and technology garners MSU faculty research U.S. DOE early career award | Mississippi State University (msstate.edu)