Pere Miró, former PhD student in the Bo group, has been awarded a Career Award by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the USA to develop the project “Understanding Structure-Function Relationships of Polyoxovanadate-Alkoxide Clusters from a Bottom-Up Perspective.”

After obtaining his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Bo in 2010, Miró worked as a postdoctoral researcher in several universities in Europe and the USA. He started his independent career in 2017 as an Assistant Professor at the University of South Dakota, where he leads a group of researchers interested in the study of dynamic properties and chemical reactivity in confined spaces with application to molecular metal oxides and catalysis inside molecular and 3D nanoporous systems.

With a five-year scope and 625 000$ in funding, the awarded project seeks to enrich the understanding of structure-function relationships that control nucleation and electrocatalytic properties. The scientific broader impacts of this work include transforming the way the organometallic chemistry community views function-oriented synthesis of these species using computational methodologies and to guide the discovery of new functionalities. The project also will provide advanced training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, including directed training opportunities for students from groups that are underrepresented in the physical sciences.

The NSF Career awards aim to support junior 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. The awards, presented once each year, include a federal grant for research and education activities for five consecutive years.