The Einstein Foundation of Berlin (Germany) has awarded an Einstein Visiting Fellowship to Prof. Anne-Frances Miller (Department of Chemistry) to support collaborative research taking place in Berlin.  In search of insight as to how new materials and devices can make more versatile and efficient use of energy, Prof. Miller has been studying enzymes from ancient lineages of bacteria.  While on sabbatical two years ago, she initiated high-level computations and spectroscopic studies to complement her biochemical work, funded by the N.S.F. That work has now caught the attention of a wider community, and Miller has won a fellowship to spend summers in Berlin extending her studies.  This provides an unparalleled opportunity to exploit cutting edge capabilities in Berlin and add scientific personnel to the project under her direction and that of her collaborator, Prof. M. A. Mroginski, an expert in ab-initio and molecular dynamics computation.  Miller will join a list of illustrious Einstein visiting fellows from the USA including members from the University of California-Davis and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, plus many others from institutions world-wide.  Miller’s students at the University of Kentucky thus gain access to a larger scientific community and will be able to collaborate closely with experts in Germany as they work together to solve one of the critical challenges of our time.

Professors Mroginski (L) and Miller (R), collaborators on the new Einstein Visiting Fellow award to study energy-transducing electron transfer flavoproteins at the Technische Universität-Berlin. Photo credit D. Tombolelli.