معرفی
Dr. Lea Nienhaus is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Rice University, holding the Norman Hackerman-Welch Young Investigator and RAMI Fellow titles. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor at Florida State University (2018–2024). She earned her B.Sc. in Chemistry from Universität Ulm, Germany (2010) and her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under Prof. Martin Gruebele, followed by postdoctoral research with Prof. Moungi Bawendi at MIT. Her research focuses on light-matter interactions in photovoltaic materials, employing scanning probe microscopy and optical spectroscopy to study nanoscale disorder in perovskites, organic semiconductors, and supramolecular networks. Key areas include perovskite-sensitized photon upconversion and structure-property relationships.
Notable achievements include the NSF CAREER Award (2025), Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship. Her lab, established at Rice in 2024, has welcomed student Charles (Physics) and is equipped with advanced STM instrumentation. Recent work includes pioneering solid-state perovskite-sensitized upconversion using tetracene/anthracene derivatives and studying triplet generation at interfaces. The lab emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, combining materials synthesis, chemical/physical methods, and engineering.
