Physcial Sciences Division
Staff Awards & Honors
April 2009
Sotiris Xantheas Receives Humboldt Award to Collaborate in Germany
Congratulations to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's Dr. Sotiris Xantheas on receiving an international award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to study the ubiquitous solvent: water. The award, presented by German President Horst Keller at the presidential residence in Berlin in early June, will cover Sotiris' travel to the Technical University of Munich at Garching and local expenses during his stay.
While at the university, Sotiris will work with Professor Alfred Laubereau and his students in the Physics Department on interpreting the infrared spectra of aqueous salts. This research into the molecular-level understanding of the interactions of water with various ions and how their presence alters the local structure of water has resulted in numerous scientific articles and stronger collaborations between U.S. and European institutions. This award to Sotiris closes out a series of studies he began 5 years ago as the recipient of the 2004 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award.
