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SIUC Chemistry Department faculty recently added two National Science Foundation grants to their list of accomplishments.
Assistant professors Boyd Goodson and Yong Gao each received a Faculty Early Career Development Program grant, which will fund their research for the next five years.
The amounts of the grants have yet to be negotiated but are expected to total more than $1 million, according to John Koropchak, vice chancellor for Research and Development.
The grants will be the Chemistry Department's third and fourth in the past two years. This is a highly unusual success rate for one department because of the prestige and high competitiveness of the awards, Koropchak said.
"Four CAREER award winners in one department is pretty prestigious and unusually successful," he said.
Goodson said he was surprised but excited to receive the award.
"It's a big shot in the arm," he said. "When somebody gets a grant like this, it's not just financial support, it's also sort of a lot of intellectual support for your work. I mean you're being recognized for the potential of your work, and that's great and humbling to have."
Goodson's research focuses on developing new techniques to study molecular structure and interactions. The research revolves around nuclear magnetic resonance, which can be thought of as strong magnets. Goodson said he wants to combine the high data content gathered with nuclear magnetic resonance with the sensitivity of optical methods of research, which can be thought of in terms of lasers. This would allow researchers to gain more information from the same specimen.
Because optic methods use more energy than nuclear magnetic resonance, Goodson said he must find a way to convert the higher energy so the same sample can be used with both methods.
If he is successful, Goodson said others could use his research to develop better comprehension of biological functions, such as understanding how general anesthesia works, as well as inclusion complexes, which can be used to mask tastes and odors or in protecting drugs during transport. Goodson said the possibilities that may stem from his research are endless.
"Generally, the truth about basic research is we don't know," Goodson said. "We can't be bound by that because we have to just see where the science takes us. And 50 years from now or five minutes from now, someone runs with it and does something else."
The basic principle behind Goodson's research will allow others to take it in a different direction. This is the case in Gao's research, which was built on pre-existing concepts to create something new.
According to Gao, his research centers on magnetic principles. By coating small magnets with organic molecules, Gao said he hopes to find a way to clean up and recycle chemical waste materials.
Gao said the process to purify molecules generates toxic waste materials that can cause serious harm but can also be used in other areas. He said his research would attempt to use a small magnet to attract the impurities and separate them from the compound.
Gao said this would allow companies to speed up the process as well as reduce the costs of purification. It would also allow the waste material to be recycled to some other use, thereby decreasing pollution.
"Of course, I'm quite excited about this grant because this award is very prestigious," Gao said. "You're talking about a success rate of maybe 10 percent or lower, so competition is very severe; you're competing with a lot of young faculty in the field."
Gao said he also was excited about the grant because it affirms his decision to switch research projects shortly after he was hired, something not many universities would allow because of the high risks involved.
"This grant just vindicated my decision," Gao said. "You have to take a risk to receive the payoff."
In collaboration with SIUC, Gao has applied for a patent on his research. If successful, Gao said the resulting technology would create jobs in Southern Illinois by beginning a small business to utilize the knowledge.
Both Gao and Goodson said that if they are successful, they plan to take their research beyond the outline covered by the awards. Koropchak said he was pleased with the success of both researchers and the department.
"I think it's these kinds of efforts and this kind of success that is an indication of excellence," Koropchak said. "And that kind of excellence is what we aspire to in Southern at 150."
