Dynamics of excited electronic states in DNA

在这一由化学系实验物理化学计划资助的奖项中，俄亥俄州立大学的伯恩·科勒教授将与他的研究生和本科生一起，对单链和双链DNA的光物理进行自下而上的研究。科勒小组的实验方法是使用超快、飞秒激光光谱学来探测DNA小片段吸收紫外线时发生的光化学事件。DNA是生物遗传信息的基本单位。像科勒团队这样的研究的最终目标是调查紫外线如何改变DNA，这可能会对健康以及寻求利用DNA的光电特性的新兴应用产生影响。除了拟议研究工作的更广泛的科学影响外，科勒教授还计划在俄亥俄州立大学校园内组织一年一度的本科生化学研究博览会。这次外展活动的目的是鼓励更多的本科生从事化学研究，并让学生在本科生涯的早期对研究感兴趣。

In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Division of Chemistry, Professor Bern Kohler of Ohio State University, together with his graduate and undergraduate students, will conduct a bottom-up investigation of the photophysics of single- and double-stranded DNA. The experimental approach of the Kohler group is to use ultrafast, femtosecond laser spectroscopy to probe the photochemical events that take place when small fragments of DNA absorb ultraviolet light.DNA is the basic unit of biological hereditary information. The ultimate goal of research like that of the Kohler group is to investigate how DNA is changed by ultraviolet light, which may have implications in health as well as emerging applications that seek to harness DNA's optoelectronic properties. In addition to the broader scientific impact of the proposed research work, Prof. Kohler plans to organize an annual undergraduate chemistry research fair on the campus of Ohio State University. The goal of this outreach event is to encourage more undergraduate students to pursue research in chemistry and to get students interested in research earlier in their undergraduate careers.