Other Awards and Honors
2003 Awards
Sotiris S. Xantheas Awarded Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award
Sotiris S. Xantheas, a chief scientist in PNNL's Fundamental Science Directorate (FSD), has been awarded the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Bonn, Germany. Between 2001 and 2003, the foundation will grant approximately 10 of these awards to outstanding young scientists already internationally recognized in their fields for significant contributions. Through this award, Xantheas was invited to spend time in a German research institution for at least six months to conduct research of his choice. He will spend his tenure in the Institute of Physical & Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Kaiserslautern and the Technical University of Munich.
Xantheas has been with PNNL since 1992. He is a physical chemist and received a diploma in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Athens, in Greece, and a doctorate from Iowa State University. His research interests lie in the application of high-level electronic structure calculations to elucidate the properties of hydrogen-bonded systems and the use of quantum mechanical results in the development of empirical models to simulate their macroscopic properties.
The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation is a nonprofit organization that promotes international research cooperation. More information is available online at http://www.avh.de/en/programme/preise/bessel.htm. (announced 5/22/2003)