Philip Shushkov Receives NSF and DOE Early Career Awards

Congratulations to Philip Shushkov, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, who was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award to support his research in quantum information sciences and non-equilibrium many-body quantum dynamics. The CAREER Program is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Activities pursued by early-career faculty should build a firm foundation for a lifetime of leadership in integrating education and research.

This award follows his recent DOE Early Career Award for his research in advancing our understanding of molecular spin qubits. The Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Program supports the individual research programs of outstanding scientists and stimulates the research careers in the disciplines supported by the DOE Office of Science. Prof. Shushkov received the award to continue the quest in understanding the fascinating dynamics of molecular spin-coherent systems with novel applications in quantum information sciences.

Both of these exciting awards were featured in a recent IU Today news release. 

Prof. Shushkov earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Yale University in 2013, where he developed theoretical methods to understand and simulate the quantum motion of molecules, a key feature of chemical dynamics in energy conversion and catalysis. He was awarded the Richard Wolfgang prize for best doctoral thesis for his graduate research. Prof. Shushkov’s interests in the dynamics of complex molecular systems led him to Germany, where he was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the University of Bonn. He returned to the US in 2017 for a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation), where he developed methods for molecular quantum dynamics in the gas and condensed phases and at surfaces. His independent career began at Tufts University in 2020 prior to joining the Indiana University Department of Chemistry in 2022. 

Research in Prof. Shushkov’s lab deploys theoretical approaches to advance the application of chemistry to quantum information science and energy conversion. Through method development and application, the Shushkov lab identifies and characterizes chemical systems that are capable to carry out quantum information processing. The lab focuses on solid-state qubits in insulators and semiconductors with broad applications in quantum sensing and quantum communication. In addition, the Shushkov lab develops molecular systems for the quantum technologies, harnessing chemical design to engineer quantum devices. Their method development centers on the extension of accurate quantum chemistry approaches to simulate the quantum dynamics of chemical systems at finite temperature and in the presence of interactions with the environment. The theoretical methods have applicability beyond quantum information science and can be used to study energy conversion and catalysis in the condensed phase and at interfaces. 

Further information about the CAREER Program can be located here. More information about the DOE Early Career Program and the award can be located here.