PNNL

Greece-born chemist Sotiris Xantheas is going home. A new award from the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program, co-managed by the Institute of International Education and the Fulbright Foundation in Greece and funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, will help him share his expertise on water with fellow scientists and students at a Greek university. During the five-week program, he will collaborate on research projects, work with students and give lectures on the intricate network of bonds within watery environments.

The fellowship program seeks to temporarily bring home Greece-born researchers to inject fresh scholarship into the Mediterranean nation's scientific endeavors and to help with the country's economic recovery. Xantheas, a laboratory fellow at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and a University of Washington-PNNL Distinguished Faculty Fellow, will be working with chemical engineer George Boulougouris at Democritus University of Thrace with the goal of establishing a long-lasting joint research project.

Xantheas and Boulougouris aim to bring together experts who simulate interactions at atomic scales with others in the field of quantum electronic structure to find new ways to model biological systems, in which water and its bonding network play a central role.

"This award has the potential to positively affect the lives of young students and it is an excellent opportunity to reciprocate the educational benefits I received — for free — from my own country," said Xantheas, who was one of 30 scholars selected in this round of awards among professors in U.S. institutions in fields ranging from humanities, law, medicine and science.

More information about the winners can be found at the Greek Diaspora Fellowship Program.