ASU physics professor receives $300,000 grant


December 4, 2020

The Department of Energy has awarded Arizona State University physics Assistant Professor Siddharth Karkare a $300,000 grant to develop more intense electron sources.

Shining ultraviolet light on many materials causes them to emit electrons. This photoelectric effect was originally explained by Albert Einstein in 1905, and is a valuable method to understanding material properties of atoms, molecules and solids. Assistant Professor Siddharth Karkare Download Full Image

Karkare, in collaboration with Rehan Kapadia from the University of Southern California, plans to develop new materials, which will more easily emit electrons. They also plan to manipulate the incident light at nanometer length scales, less than the wavelength of the light, to further increase the electron emission.

“Generating brighter electron beams is essential for various applications ranging from large km-scale particle accelerators and for smaller meter-scale ultrafast electron microscopy experiments,” Karkare said.

This grant will help in the development of new electron sources for imaging and spectroscopy of molecules, and following the changes in bonding in chemical reactions as they take place.

Karkare is a Cornell University alumnus and received his PhD in physics in 2015. Before joining ASU’s Department of Physics in 2018, he was a physicist postdoctoral fellow at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

Araceli Vizcarra

Academic Success Coordinator, Department of Physics

480-965-9152

ASU Art Museum announces 'Restless Balance,' a new exhibition by Boredomresearch


December 4, 2020

From the textbooks of ancient Greek physician Hippocrates to current research on the coronavirus pandemic, we know that human health is impacted by environmental factors. British artists Vicky Isley and Paul Smith of Boredomresearch worked with leading science institutions to create dynamic video installations that explore how large scale environmental changes alter disease transmission. 

“‘Restless Balance’ takes on new relevance as we navigate the complexities of a global pandemic and reexamine the delicate relationship between human health and our social and natural environments,” said Brittany Corrales, curator at the Arizona State University Art Museum. The exhibition includes the U.S. premiere of the video installation “In Search of Chemozoa,” along with three earlier works. Image credit: boredomresearch, "In Search of Chemozoa," 2020, three-channel HD moving image installation, 11 mins. 52 secs. Image courtesy of boredomresearch. Image credit: Boredomresearch, "In Search of Chemozoa," 2020, three-channel HD moving image installation, 11 mins. 52 secs. Image courtesy of Boredomresearch. Download Full Image

“In Search of Chemozoa” was created with researchers at the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center at the ASU Biodesign Institute, who are working on radically new ways of thinking about cancer treatment. Other works in the exhibition are based upon animated robots navigating Venice’s polluted canals, flight patterns of mosquitos carrying malaria and intertidal snails adjusting to changing coastal conditions. 

The artists present a daring new vision for technological innovation, centered on uniting the domains of art, science and society. "In the greater scheme of things, the differences between science and art are fewer than one might think,” said Pamela Winfrey, scientific research curator at the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center. “Both take imagination, observation, curiosity and creativity and without those critical elements, neither can do their work." 

“In seeking serenity we find ourselves in motion,” said Boredomresearch in a written statement. “Sacrificing the sanctuary of the familiar, to imagine a place where health is maintained both in our bodies as well as the spaces through which they wonder. Searching for stability we push against the tide maintaining a restless balance between uncertainty and hope.”

"In Search of Chemozoa" was commissioned and funded by the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center, a new center established through an award from the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute and housed at the Biodesign Institute at ASU. The exhibition is co-presented by the ASU Art Museum and co-curated by Pamela Winfrey, scientific research curator, Arizona Cancer Evolution Center; Heather Sealy Lineberry, curator emeritus; and Brittany Corrales, curator, ASU Art Museum. Additional funding for the ASU Art Museum's presentation is funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts with support by the ASU Art Museum's Evelyn Smith Exhibition Fund.