Dynamics of excited electronic states in DNA

该奖项由化学学部实验物理化学项目资助，由俄亥俄州立大学的Bern Kohler教授和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。像科勒小组这样的研究的最终目标是调查DNA是如何被紫外线改变的，这可能对健康有影响，也可能对寻求利用DNA光电特性的新兴应用有影响。除了提出的研究工作的更广泛的科学影响外，Kohler教授还计划在俄亥俄州立大学校园组织一年一度的本科化学研究博览会。这次拓展活动的目的是鼓励更多的本科生从事化学研究，并让学生在他们的本科生涯中更早地对研究感兴趣。

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.