ELIZABETHTOWN, PA (07/30/2010)(readMedia)-- Jeff Rood, assistant professor of chemistry at Elizabethtown College, was one of only 57 science faculty from colleges and universities throughout the nation to be recognized on the most recent list of Cottrell College Science Award recipients. The prestigious $35,000 grant will allow the Elizabethtown faculty member to explore new directions in sold-state materials research and to create unique experiential learning opportunities for the College's students.

This spring, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) awarded $2 million in grants to support early-career scientists, like Rood. The Single-Investigator Cottrell College Science Awards provide funding for significant research in the physical sciences-astronomy, chemistry or physics-which contributes to the advancement of science and to the professional and scholarly development of faculty at liberal arts colleges and primarily undergraduate universities. As a requirement for its Cottrell College Science Awards, the RCSA mandates that undergraduate students be involved in the research in meaningful ways.

Slated to begin in earnest this fall, Rood's research-titled "Solvent and Temperature Effects on the Structure and Luminescent Properties of Metal Phosphinates"-will advance fundamental research into the structures and properties of hybrid inorganic-organic materials. With their unique properties, these materials potentially could be used to fabricate sensors or to serve as storage materials for fuels, such as hydrogen. The grant will purchase necessary supplies for the research over the next two academic years. In addition, it will supplement funding from Elizabethtown College for student research stipends.

Elizabethtown College, in southeastern Pennsylvania, is a private coed college with degrees in liberal arts, fine and performing arts, science and engineering, business, communications and education. The hallmarks of an Elizabethtown education are academic rigor, high expectations and intellectual curiosity. Our faculty members are teacher-scholars, pursuing their academic areas of expertise while sharing that expertise with students. For more information, please visit www.etown.edu.

Research Corporation for Science Advancement-formerly known as Research Corporation-was founded in 1912 and is the second-oldest foundation in the United States (after the Carnegie Corporation) and the oldest foundation for science advancement. Research Corporation is a leading advocate for the sciences and a major funder of scientific innovation and of research in America's colleges and universities. It has recently launched a Campaign for Early Career Scientists. For more information, please visit www.rescorp.org.

Posted Friday July 30, 2010 at 06:00 am by Elizabethtown College
Last Updated Tuesday August 24, 2010 at 01:03 pm