Professor Naomi J. Halas of Rice University in the US has been awarded the Australian Academy of Science’s 2024 Geoffrey Frew Fellowship.
Professor Halas is a pioneering researcher in the fields of nanophotonics and plasmonics. She is renowned for her work demonstrating how the nanoscale internal and external morphology of noble metal nanoparticles controls their optical properties. Her groundbreaking research merged chemical nanofabrication with optics, leading to the establishment of the field of plasmonics.
At Rice University, Professor Halas holds the titles of University Professor and Stanley C. Moore Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her research extends to a broad range of applications, including biomedicine, optoelectronics, chemical sensing, photocatalysis and solar water treatment. She also leads fundamental studies in light–nanoparticle interactions, making significant contributions to advancing both scientific understanding and practical innovations in her field.
Professor Halas is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, as well as the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has been recognised internationally with memberships in the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters and the Royal Society of Chemistry in the UK.
As part of her fellowship, Professor Halas will be speaking at the 25th Congress of the Australian Institute of Physics (AIP) in Melbourne, which runs from 2 to 5 December 2024. The congress is co-locating with the 17th International Conference on Near-field Optics, Nanophotonics, and Related Techniques (NFO-17), the 2024 Australian and New Zealand Conference on Optics and Photonics (ANZCOP), and the 2024 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices (COMMAD).
The Geoffrey Frew Fellowship was established in 1970 through a generous personal donation from Mr. G.S.V. Frew, Chair of Varian Techtron Pty Ltd. Fellowships are awarded to distinguished overseas scientists to participate in the biannual Australian Spectroscopy Conferences and to visit scientific centres across Australia.
The Australian and New Zealand Optical Society generously matches the Academy’s funding support for this fellowship.
© 2024 Australian Academy of Science
