Barry Rand and Julia Mikhailova receive experimental physics awards

By the Office of Engineering Communications

Princeton University faculty members Barry Rand and Julia Mikhailova have each won a Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative award. The grants will support research into advanced solar cells and laser-based sensing technologies, as well as efforts to foster inclusive research communities.

The Moore Foundation recently announced 21 such awards for 2023. Each investigator will receive $1,250,000 over the next five years to advance the scientific frontier in experimental physics.

Barry Rand

Rand, professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, investigates the optical and electrical properties of thin film materials to usher in the next generation of thin film devices. His group has uncovered new ways to understand energy loss in organic solar cells, discovered the key to managing heat in metal halide perovskite LEDs and developed a novel technique that allows nanoparticles to self-assemble for more efficient, stable and durable perovskite LEDs. Previous honors include a DARPA Young Faculty Award, 3M Nontenured Faculty Award, DuPont Young Professor Award and a Young Investigator Program award from the Office of Naval Research. He joined Princeton in 2013.

Julia Mikhailova

Mikhailova, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and associated faculty at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, investigates optical harmonic generation in plasmas and solids, and develops new ionization-based optical components. Optical harmonics can serve as a diagnostic tool for high-energy-density plasmas and new quantum materials, as well as a source of intense ultrafast x-ray radiation that can be used to produce entangled x-ray light for quantum metrology. Mikhailova’s previous honors include an Early Career Award from the U.S. Department of Energy, an Alfred Rheinstein Faculty Award for excellence in teaching and scholarship from Princeton, and an Alexander von Humbolt Research Fellowship. In 2021, she was named a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. She joined Princeton in 2013.

Rand and Mikhailova are two of four award recipients from Princeton University. The full story originally appeared on the Princeton Engineering website.