Assistant Professor Receives Cottrell College Science Award

Joe Reczek, assistant professor of chemistry at Denison University, has been granted a Cottrell College Science Award from the Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement (RCSA). With the $41,000 grant, Reczek and several Denison students will investigate the possibilities of new organic chemistry compounds and their applications for solar cells.

“I really want to apply my knowledge of organic chemistry to solar cell questions,” says Reczek. “And research opportunities for our students are incredibly important. I’m excited about the potential of this grant to address both these issues.”

The grant for the project, titled “Development of Modular Organic Columnar Liquid Crystals as Robust Sensitizers in Low-Cost Solar Cells,” will fund two years of research at Denison.

Research Corporation for Scientific Advancement (RSCA), created in 1912, is America’s second-oldest foundation and the first dedicated solely to science. Through its various programs RCSA funds innovative research by early career scientists, both individually and in teams crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. The Cottrell College Science Award has the added goal of promoting the opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in cutting-edge research, an experience that gives them a head start in learning to think like scientists. The Foundation’s goal is to build and improve our scientific workforce to ensure twenty-first century America’s prosperity and security.