Two assistant professors of physics at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Dan Dessau and Anton Andreev, have each won prestigious CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation.
Dessau will receive $360,000 over the next four years and Andreev will receive $200,000.
The awards are given to exceptionally promising junior faculty at U.S. colleges and universities who are committed to the integration of research and education. In 1999, the NSF granted about 350 of the highly competitive awards.
Dessau, 35, earned his doctorate in applied physics from Stanford University and began teaching at CU-Boulder in 1995. His research interests center around using electron spectroscopies for the study of the electronic and magnetic structure of novel materials systems, including high-temperature superconductors and colossal magnetoresistive oxides. He has published more than 70 research articles and given 40 invited presentations about his research.
In addition to teaching students and researchers of all levels at CU, he has been especially active in the development of the honors program in physics, which now boasts one of the highest participation rates in the university.
Dessau earned dual bachelor's degrees in physics and electrical engineering from Rice University in Houston. Following his doctorate at Stanford, he was a U.S. Department of Energy distinguished postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory in Palo Alto, Calif.
Andreev, 32, earned his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and began teaching at CU-Boulder in 1998. His research interests are in theoretical low-temperature condensed matter physics. He studies "mesoscopic" technology, extremely small devices where quantum mechanical effects are important, and superconducting devices. Andreev teaches both undergraduate and graduate students.
Born in Russia, Andreev was trained at the Lebedev Physical Institute in Moscow and received a master's of science degree at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. He earned a second master's degree at Johns Hopkins University and a doctorate from MIT in 1996.
Andreev was a visiting scientist at the Nippon Electronic Co. Research Institute in Princeton, N.J., and a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Theoretical Physics in Santa Barbara, Calif. He joined the CU-Boulder physics department in August 1998.
Andreev last year also was awarded a $625,000 Packard Fellowship and a $35,000 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship.
The physics department is part of the CU-Boulder College of Arts and Sciences.