News
Final Exercises
Congratulations to Yulu, and Jiayue for each receiving an MA in Chemistry!
Group Happy Hour at Boylan Heights
The Zhang Lab went out to Boylan Heights to celebrate the end of the school year and to enjoy a beautiful day on the Lawn.
Group Barbecue
The Zhang group came together for some delicious food and volleyball to celebrate the beginning of Spring.
New Award
Congratulations! Dr. Zhang has been selected for the 2017 Jeffress Trust Awards Program in Interdisciplinary Research.
Nanodays 2018
Members of the Zhang Lab participated in UVA Nanodays 2018 explaining the how the morphology of nanomaterials affect their interactions with light to the interested public.
Summer Poster Session
Visiting Scholars Dem and Mischa presented their summer work supported by the VA-NC Alliance Summer Research Program in an on grounds Poster Session.
We welcome our summer researcher, Aari!
We are pleased to welcome Aariella to the Zhang lab for the summer 2019. She is a rising junior at Bennett College and North Carolina A & T studying chemistry and chemical engineering. She has recieved the fellowship award of the Virginia-North Carolina Louis Stokes Alliance, and we are very happy she has decided to work with us for the summer.
Happy Lab in front of Rotunda
The Zhang lab continues to grow with people who are truly a pleasure to work with!
2020 Scialog Fellows
Congratulations to Prof. Sen Zhang who have been named 2020 Scialog Fellows by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. He is looking forward to joining fellows at the 2020 Scialog virtual conference on Negative Emissions Science (NES).
ACS Petroleum Research Fund New Directions Grants
We have been awarded an ACS Petroleum Research Fund New Directions Grants! It allows us to start a new project on direct methane oxidation to methanol.
UVA Today and UVA College of Art and Science highlighted our recent work in Nature Catalysis
UVA Today and UVA College of Art and Science highlighted our recent work in Nature Catalysis. Congratulations to Chang, Zhiyong and Colton and all co-authors and collaborators!
Chang Liu awarded prestigious Jefferson Dissertation Year Fellowship and Ritchie Award
Congratulations to Chang Liu in the Sen Zhang lab for being awarded a prestigious Jefferson Dissertation Year Fellowship from Jefferson Scholars Foundation! This award is granted to graduate students in the University of Virginia who have demonstrate the highest levels of scholastic achievement and who are prepared to pursue ambitious dissertation projects that have the potential to transform their disciplines. This fellowship will aid in his pursuit to develop innovative nanomaterials and nanotechnologies that contribute to clean energy and environmental sustainability.
Additionally, it was recently annouced that Chang is also the recipient of the 2021 Adam Ritchie Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Chemistry. Out of a very comptetive field, Chang emerged as very deserving of this award which is given each year to an advanced Ph.D. student. The Adam Ritchie Award was established in remembrance of Adam Ritchie (UVa Ph.D., 1968) to provide some financial assistance to an outstanding graduate student. The recipient of the Ritchie award will receive a $2,000 award.
Grayson Johnson awarded the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Graudate Student Research Fellowship
Congratulations to Grayson for being awarded the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Graduate Student Research Fellowship! Check out this nice UVA Today coverage!
Perrin Godbold Selected for U.S. Department of Energy Science Graduate Student Research Program
Congratulations to Perrin for receiving the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Science Graduate Student Research Award! Check out this nice UVA Today coverage!
UVA Today highlighted Chang’s MRS Graduate Student Award
UVA Today highlighted Chang’s MRS Graduate Student Award! Congradulatons to Chang.
Our group received NSF CAREER award
Our team has been awarded a NSF CAREER award to study multi-interface nanocrystal electrocatalyst. Thanks to @NSF CHE Cat for supporting our research and education effort. Very thankful to my team, my mentors & my collaborators. A great gift for the New Year!
Welcome Bukuru and Tangi!
Welcome Bukuru and Tangi to join our group! Glad to have you.
Our Team selected for Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award: Negative Emissions Science
Our Team selected for Scialog Collaborative Innovation Award: Negative Emissions Science!!
Dr. Zhang received 2021 CAPA Distinguished Junior Faculty Award
Dr. Zhang received 2021 CAPA Distinguished Junior Faculty Award (https://www.capachembiol.org/).
Prof. Zhang received University of Virginia Research Excellent Award
Prof. Zhang received University of Virginia Research Excellent Award! Congratulations!!
Prof. Zhang has been named a 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow
It was announced today that Prof. Zhang has been named a 2022 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow. Congratulations!
Bukuru Anaclet Wins Two Prestigious National Fellowships
It has been a good couple of months for UVA Chemistry graduate student Bukuru Anaclet. In March it was announced he had been awarded a GEM fellowship from the National GEM Consortium which includes an internship with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Then, in April, he learned he was being awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation.
US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and DOE Director of the Office of Science Dr. Asmeret Asefaw Berhe visited the Zhang lab
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm was on grounds (Aug. 25, 2022) with DOE Director of the Office of Science Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Ph.D. and UVA President Jim Ryan to announce $540M for research into technologies that transform energy production and cut emissions. One aim, termed Energy Earthshots, of the iniative is focusing on Hydrogen. Sen Zhang, a UVA associate professor of chemistry who serves as the project’s principal investigator and team lead, said if the research is successful, it “will potentially transform the U.S. and global energy portfolio.”
UVA College of Art and Science highlighted our recent work in Nature Synthesis
In 2021, the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy accounted for over a quarter of the country’s total energy consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and over 80% of that energy is still produced by fossil fuels that are contributing to a global climate-change crisis. Consequently, the Department of Energy has identified innovations in precise and scalable manufacturing as a technological priority. Addressing this need, a team of scientists led by chemist Sen Zhang, an associate professor with the University of Virginia’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences in collaboration with professor William Goddard from Caltech and researchers from the Department of Energy’s Argonne, Ames, and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, have announced their discovery of a process for producing a new form of synthetic materials that could have a variety of promising uses, including helping to make the manufacturing industry more energy efficient.
Our Lab Selected as the Featured Story in UVA's Art & Science Magazine
The challenge of producing renewable fuel and chemical sources for a clean energy future has drawn the focus of researchers around the world. In recent years, a young faculty member in UVA’s College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences has drawn attention and acclaim for the innovative efforts of his lab in this critical area of research and enriched the experience of his chemistry students.