University Research | U.S. DOE Office of Science (SC)

New Research Findings Could Lead to Safer and More Powerful Lithium-ion Batteries

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers are working to improve conductivity and safety in lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power many electronic devices around the world, including laptops, iPods, satellites, artificial hearts and cell phones.

Rutgers-led Research Could Revolutionize Nuclear Waste Reprocessing and Save Money

Seeking a better way to capture radioactive iodides in spent nuclear reactor fuel, Rutgers–New Brunswick scientists have developed an extremely efficient “molecular trap” that can be recycled and reused.

Four Faculty Honored With Presidential Early Career Awards

Four Northwestern University professors — physicist Eric Dahl, chemists Danna Freedman and T. David Harris and mechanical engineer Sinan Keten — have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Giant Middle East Dust Storm Caused by a Changing Climate, Not Human Conflict

A dust storm that blanketed seven nations in the Middle East in late summer 2015 was caused by climate factors and unusual weather, not human conflict in Syria, concluded researchers from Princeton, Marquette, Boston, Duke Universities and the Agricultural Research Organization.

Tiny Aquariums Put Nanoparticle Self-Assembly on Display

A team of University of Illinois engineers is observing the interactions of colloidal gold nanoparticles inside tiny aquariumlike sample containers to gain more control over the self-assembly process of engineered materials.

U.S. Department of Energy Awards Danforth Center $16M to Enhance Sorghum for Bioenergy

The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, one of the world’s largest independent plant science institutes, today announced a 5-year $16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Physics Student Thrives at Princeton Internship

Jesus Perez, an applied physics major at Cal State San Marcos, served as a fall intern for the Science of Undergraduate Laboratory Internships program at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in New Jersey.

New Research on Shallow Warm Clouds will Advance Climate Models and Weather Forecasts

David Mechem, an associate professor in the Department of Geography & Atmospheric Science at the University of Kansas, is leading a new $525,000, three-year grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to better understand the fundamental processes governing the behavior of shallow clouds, the low-hanging cottony clouds often seen on a summer day or over ocean waters.

Research Seeks to Transform Weather Predication/Climate Modeling

Thijs Heus, an assistant professor of physics at Cleveland State University, has received a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to better model cloud size and enhance understanding of how small and large clouds impact solar reflectivity, vertical transport of heat and moisture, as well as precipitation.

Pelini Ant Research Provides Long-Term Look at Effects of Climate Change

The world of forest ants may provide a macrocosm of the complex reactions and interactions among species affected by global climate change, according to a research project involving Bowling Green State University biologist Dr. Shannon Pelini.

Clarkson University’s Mitlin & Paek Win DOE Basic Energy Science Grant

Clarkson Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Professor David Mitlin and Assistant Professor Eunsu Paek have received a prestigious and highly competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences to perform research on high energy – high power battery materials that use sodium instead of lithium.

Toward “Valleytronic” Devices for Data Storage or Computer Logic Systems

Faster, more efficient data storage and computer logic systems could be on the horizon thanks to a new way of tuning electronic energy levels in two-dimensional films of crystal, discovered by researchers at MIT.