NC State Chemist Receives NSF Career Award

Dr. Alexander Deiters, assistant professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University, has received a Career Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award is one of the highest honors given by NSF to young university faculty in science and engineering, and is intended to advance the development of their research and careers.

Deiters will receive a five-year, $500,000 grant to fund research related to his proposal titled, “Solid-Supported Cyclotrimerizations – A Library Approach to Research and Teaching.” The grant will further Deiters’ research into using microwave-mediated cyclotrimeritzation technology to synthesize certain unnatural and natural molecules. Deiters’ work makes molecule synthesis faster and more efficient, which has implications for both the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The developed methodology might also enable the assembly of organic molecules in a more energy efficient way than existing methodologies.

Deiters studied chemistry at the University of Münster, Germany, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1998 and his doctorate in 2000. He joined the NC State faculty in 2004, and received several awards for his research accomplishments, including the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award in 2006, Sigma Xi Research Faculty Award in 2007, Cottrell Scholar Award in 2007, and Beckman Young Investigator Award in 2007.

– peake –