Luiz Santos receives two grants recognizing his work
Luiz Santos, PhD, associate professor of physics, is a theorist who specializes in condensed matter physics and studies the interactions of quantum materials — such as atoms, photons and electrons — that do not behave according to the laws of classical physics. He recently received two grants recognizing his work at the forefront of quantum materials research.
The first is a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award, titled “Developing New Paradigms for Hybrid Light-Matter Quantum Materials,” which recognizes early-career researchers with ambitious scientific ideas in their field.
The five-year, $620,000 award will support his ongoing research as well as education outreach with local high schools to advance scientific literacy, inspire future scientists, and expand public engagement with quantum science.
The second award, from the Department of Energy for “Theory of Topological and Competing Orders in Quantum Materials,” continues his prior work identifying novel states of matter with non-trivial topological order. These materials play an important role in developing next-generation quantum technologies such as quantum computing.