Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

May 17, 2021

Holy Cross professor receives $400K to study molecular mixing

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.

Courtesy | Holy Cross
L. Gaby Avila-Bront

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.

Sign up for Enews

WBJ Web Partners

Related Content

0 Comments

Order a PDF