The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has named Kwabena Bediako, The Cupola Era Professor in the College of Chemistry, a 2021 Fellow in Materials Synthesis.
Prof. Bediako will receive a grant for $1.2 million as part of the foundation's Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems (EPiQS) Initiative, which seeks "to deepen our understanding of the organizing principles that lead to complex collective behaviors of electrons in materials and engineered structures," according to the Moore Foundation.
The award will support the laboratory of Prof. Bediako, which is exploring the synthesis of new classes of two-dimensional and layered materials hosting novel emergent electronic and magnetic phenomena.
Prof. Bediako has also recently received research awards from the Department of Energy, the W.M Keck Foundation (with Prof. Michael Zuerch), and the Airforce Office of Scientific Research.
About Kwabena Bediako's research
Prof. Bediako's research program sits at the nexus of solid-state synthesis, inorganic coordination chemistry, van der Waals fabrication, and electrochemistry. His long-term research vision is to apply insights from these traditionally distinct fields to design and synthesize uncharted classes of two-dimensional (2D) materials that unlock new directions in the study of collective electronic phenomena. Critical to this goal is the development of new tools that can provide key insights into structure–property relationships in complex 2D quantum materials.
Prof. Bediako comments, "I am excited by finding unconventional approaches to making new materials. Finding new routes to making materials is one way to catalyze the discovery of new families of quantum materials that advance our understanding of emergent phenomena and allow us to manipulate exotic electronic phases with greater fidelity. I see these fundamental advances as vital to developing new technologies that will help address some of our society’s most urgent interrelated energy and environmental/climate challenges."
About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore established the foundation to create positive outcomes for future generations. In pursuit of that vision, we foster path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area.