CAREER: Vibrational Couplings and Conformational Dynamics of Solvated Systems

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In this CAREER award, supported by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Martin Zanni will conduct research, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, on the development of the technique of two-dimensional non-linear infrared spectroscopy using femtosecond lasers. The methods developed will be used to study the vibrational dynamics, couplings and folding of DNA and RNA oligomers in solution. In addition, he will train undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral students in research and develop an active outreach collaboration with an inner-city high school in Chicago. The methods developed by Prof. Zanni may prove to be quite general for studying the dynamics of complex biological molecules. Besides developing these new experimental tools, Prof. Zanni will mentor high-school and undergraduate researchers in his laboratory. He also will begin an outreach program with an inner-city Chicago high school, the Noble Street Charter School. This school has a student body that is 95% underreprensented minority. Prof. Zanni will work with the teachers at the school on a curriculum development plan, incorporating the instructional materials developed by the Material Research Science and Education Center on Nanostructured Materials and Interfaces at the University of Wisconsin.