Aaron Rossini, assistant professor of chemistry and senior scientist at Ames Laboratory, has earned a 2020 Sloan Research Fellowship for achievements that designate him as one of the nation’s most outstanding early-career researchers.
“To receive a Sloan Research Fellowship is to be told by your fellow scientists that you stand out among your peers,” says Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “A Sloan Research Fellow is someone whose drive, creativity and insight make them a researcher to watch.”
Rossini’s research focuses on advancing a richer and more comprehensive understanding of molecules and their structure. To achieve this insight, Rossini uses solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as well as electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, quantum chemical calculations, X-ray diffraction and other techniques.
Researchers in the pharmaceutical and materials-science fields use Rossini’s research to boost chemical reactions, develop better medicines and improve the performance of materials.
“I can think of only a few young scientists worldwide with the capabilities of pushing NMR of materials to the new heights that Aaron has,” said Marek Pruski, adjunct professor of chemistry and senior scientist at Ames Laboratory. “He is very deserving of this prestigious award. ”
Rossini received a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Windsor, in Windsor, Ontario. Before joining Iowa State University in 2015, he completed his post-doctoral work at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland and the Centre de RMN à Très Haut Champs, ENS de Lyon, in Villeurbanne, France.
Sloan fellows receive a two-year $75,000 award. Rossini will use the funds to support and expand research efforts in the Rossini lab.
Past Sloan Research Fellows include many towering figures in the history of science, including physicists Richard Feynman and Murray Gell-Mann, and game theorist John Nash. Fifty fellows have received a Nobel Prize in their respective field, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics and 69 have received the National Medal of Science.
Rossini joins an exclusive cohort of 126 scholars, from 60 institutions across the United States and Canada, “who are some of the most promising researchers working today,” according to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
“There is a wide variety of winning institutions, but each one has successfully attracted, retained and nurtured truly promising junior faculty,” said Daniel L. Goroff, director of the Sloan Research Fellowship program. “The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is proud to join with these institutions in recognizing and supporting scientific leaders of the future.”
See the full list of 2020 Sloan Research Fellows.