Newswise — Lin X. Chen, a chemist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, has received the Senior Prize as part of the two 2023 Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship Awards from the University of Hamburg, Germany. The award recognizes outstanding international women scientists and offers an opportunity for awardees to conduct research at the Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging Cluster of Excellence. Chen has held a joint appointment as professor of chemistry at Northwestern University since 2007.

“I am very honored to receive the Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship Award. Professor Dresselhaus has inspired my career,” said Chen. ​“Her long-time contributions to science and her advocacy for women’s inclusion in science have motivated me in many ways. I am very grateful to participate in one of the legacies left by her — this Guest Professorship in her honor.”

Chen is a world-renowned researcher, recognized for her work on transition metal complexes in excited states. She has been a leader in combining laser spectroscopy with X-ray structural techniques at synchrotrons and using X-ray pulses as a probe. She will be researching ultrafast electronic and nuclear structural dynamics in molecules and materials relevant to solar energy conversion during her guest professorship.

“I am very honored to receive the Mildred Dresselhaus Guest Professorship Award. Professor Mildred Dresselhaus has inspired my career. Her long-time contributions to science and her advocacy for women’s inclusion in science have motivated me in many ways. I am very grateful to participate in one of the legacies left by her — this Guest Professorship in her honor.” — Lin Chen, chemist and Argonne Distinguished Fellow

“The University of Hamburg, as well as the European X-ray free electron laser and DESY accelerator facilities, provides unprecedented opportunities for our research at the frontiers of science,” noted Chen. ​“I am excited to work with Professor [Christian] Bressler’s group and Hamburg colleagues to advance our understanding of science and make an impact on global energy and environmental research.”

Among her other accomplishments, Chen is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the American Crystallographic Association and an Argonne Distinguished Fellow.  

Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit https://​ener​gy​.gov/​s​c​ience.