image: Dr. Eranda Nikolla is an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Wayne State University. view more
Credit: Courtesy of Wayne State University's College of Engineering
DETROIT -- The Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science recently announced its selection of 50 scientists from across the nation to receive its Early Career Research Program award. Eranda Nikolla, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemical engineering in Wayne State University's College of Engineering, was selected out of 620 submissions to receive a five-year, $750,000 award for her proposal, Nanostructured, targeted layered metal oxides as active and selective heterogeneous electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution.
Nikolla will pursue work that will lead to development of efficient catalysts for energy generation and storage. She aims to combine computational tools with nanoscience and catalysis to design nanostructured, nonprecious metal oxide electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution -- a key reaction in electrochemical energy conversion systems, such as generation of H2 from water. The proposed work will have a significant impact on the development of efficient energy conversion systems.
'It is a great honor that our research was recognized by the U.S. Department of Energy with a 2015 Early Career Research Award,' said Nikolla. 'The funded work will have a significant impact in the field by providing fundamental insights that can guide the design of nonprecious metal oxide systems for electrocatalysis.'
The DOE's Early Career Research Program, now in its sixth year, aims to bolster the nation's scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during their early career years, when many scientists do their most important work.
'Dr. Nikolla was awarded this prestigious grant from the Department of Energy for her transformative research ideas that may one day soon make a major impact on how energy is converted and stored,' said Gloria Heppner, Ph.D., associate vice president for research at Wayne State University. 'She is most deserving of this outstanding recognition from the DOE.'
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The award number for this Department of Energy grant is 0000216565.
About Wayne State University
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://research.wayne.edu.