A chemistry professor at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester has been awarded more than $400,000 from the National Science Foundation to study how molecules mix with each other.
The multi-year award to chemistry professor Gaby Avila-Bront was given through the Faculty Early Career Development Program with a total intended award amount of $417,396, according to the NSF, with funding through 2026.
Avila-Bront’s project seeks to determine how a mixture of different molecules bound to a surface forms a two-dimensional molecular pattern. It is currently not possible to precisely control the composition of a molecular pattern composed of dissimilar molecules on a surface and, prior to mixing, there is no knowledge of what two-dimensional patterns may form or what new properties of the surface will be observed, according to a release from Holy Cross.
All of the research in Avila-Bront’s lab is conducted and driven by undergraduate students, according to the school. These students conduct experiments, analyze and interpret data and are encouraged to present their findings at scientific conferences.
Avila-Bront earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of Chicago and has been with Holy Cross since 2014.
