Richard Dawes

Richard Dawes is an Assistant Professor at Missouri University of Science and Technology, specializing in theoretical and computational chemistry. His research focuses on developing methods to construct global potential energy surfaces for studying molecular spectroscopy and dynamics relevant to combustion, atmospheric, and interstellar chemistry. He leads research in multistate multireference quantum chemistry and potential energy surface development.

Dawes received his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in 2005. He then completed postdoctoral work with Prof. Tucker Carrington Jr. at the Université de Montréal and with Prof. Donald L. Thompson on fitting potential energy surfaces. In 2009, he worked with Dr. Ahren W. Jasper at the Combustion Research Facility before joining Missouri University of Science and Technology as an Assistant Professor in 2010.

Richard Dawes' research centers on the development of accurate potential energy surfaces to predict and understand molecular spectroscopy and dynamics. His group investigates systems relevant to combustion, atmospheric chemistry, and interstellar environments. They develop interpolative fitting methods that combine hundreds or thousands of individual processors on high-performance computing clusters to automatically refine potential energy surfaces toward negligible error. Their work includes studies of ozone, spin-forbidden chemistry, van der Waals systems, and molecular dimers. A key focus is understanding how molecular dynamics can be sensitive to surface topography, especially at low temperatures.

Dawes' recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on potential energy surface development for various molecular systems, with applications spanning atmospheric chemistry, interstellar environments, and combustion processes. His work increasingly incorporates advanced computational methods like Quantum Monte Carlo and multireference approaches to achieve higher accuracy. A notable trend is the application of these methods to study astrochemically relevant molecules and reactions, reflecting growing interest in computational astrochemistry.

• Early career award by the U.S. Department of Energy (2013)
• Flygare award lecture

Richard Dawes has mentored several graduate students to completion, including Dr. Andrew Powell and Dr. Phalgun Lolur, who have gone on to postdoctoral positions at prestigious institutions. His research has been generously supported by the Department of Energy (DE-SC0010616) and the National Science Foundation (CHE-1300945), reflecting the significance of his work in theoretical chemistry and potential energy surface development.

The Dawes Research Group operates at the intersection of theoretical chemistry, quantum dynamics, and high-performance computing. They collaborate with researchers across the globe, including groups in France, China, and Canada, focusing on developing and applying advanced computational methods to solve challenging problems in molecular spectroscopy and dynamics.