Texas Tech Professor Receives NSF Career Grant
August 4, 2009
By: Leslie Cranford
A Texas Tech University professor has been awarded a Career Grant from the Chemistry
Division of the National Science Foundation.
Michael Mayer, an assistant professor in the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, will receive $546,784 for his project “Preparation of Materials Composed of Mechanically
Interlocked Nanoscale Species.” The five-year grant began Aug. 1.
Research goals of the project involve the production and study of materials that
are held together, at the molecular level, by well-defined molecular entanglements.
“Just as an animal on a leash can be expected to be limited in its behavior, so too
with molecules – the fundamentally minimal building blocks of organic materials, when
they are entangled,” Mayer said. “In this project we are developing new and better
ways to literally tie together both small molecules and even large polymers, looking
for outcomes like new flexibility, viscosity and elasticity.”
Bob Smith, Texas Tech’s provost, said Career Awards, especially from the NSF, are
extremely competitive and prestigious.
“Such awards also have the potential to affect an individual’s career in an extremely
positive way,” Smith said. “Thus, we are so delighted by Dr. Mayer’s success. And,
we know that his success will also reflect very favorably on Texas Tech.”
The well-known and relatively high-profile award lends a certain level of credibility
to his research program, Mayer said, and can be used to leverage his individual research
program as well the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry’s program to qualify
for additional resources.
The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a foundation-wide activity that offers the
National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of
teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration
of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
CONTACT: Michael Mayer, assistant professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
(806) 742-0019, or mf.mayer@ttu.edu.