Simulations of materials, interfaces, and processes in photo- and electro-catalysis

Behavioral interventions; reasoning, judgment, and decision-making, and issues related to behavioral economics, with an emphasis on descriptive studies of how people make judgments and decisions in situations of conflict and uncertainty

Earth’s environmental history; interactions among climate, ocean biogeochemistry, and atmospheric carbon dioxide; the global nitrogen cycle, today and in the past

Mathematical methods for the localized analysis of scalar and vectorial satellite data, monitoring of ice sheets from time-variable gravity, statistical analysis of multivariate multidimensional stochastic fields, inverse modeling for global and exploration seismology, and design of autonomously floating multi-sensor oceanic platforms.

Energy-efficient software in cloud computing and large-scale computing

Game-theoretic models of energy and emissions markets, with emphasis on policy implications; economics of exhaustible resources, including modeling of shifts in energy markets toward intermittent alternative sources such as solar and wind technologies; dynamic models to help design incentives for greener fuel production; financialization of energy and commodities markets; risk quantification of electricity grids under increased stochasticity from renewables penetration.

Urban environments, hydrology and meteorology; extreme floods, including the impact of urban environments, environmental sensor systems

Global energy system response to global and local environmental and security constraints; carbon dioxide capture from fossil fuels and storage in geological formations; nuclear power; energy efficiency in buildings; advanced technologies in developing countries

The Sood Lab builds novel experimental platforms to visualize dynamical processes in materials and devices, for understanding and controlling the flow of charge (electrons), energy (heat), and matter (ions) at nanometer length scales and picosecond timescales. Key applications of interest include energy-efficiency computing, thermal management, energy harvesting, energy storage, and next-generation photovoltaics and optoelectronics.

Green methods for achieving efficient chemical syntheses by approximating the efficiency with which nature creates architecturally complex, biologically active natural products