Carlos Baiz, assistant professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, has been named a 2020 Cottrell Scholar by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA).
Each year the RCSA selects 25 Cottrell Scholar Awards recipients from top early career "teacher-scholars" in chemistry, physics and astronomy. Recipients receive a $100,000 research grant and an invitation to the 2020 Cottrell Scholar Conference, which will take place in July in Tucson, Ariz.
Cottrell Scholars are chosen through a peer-review process based on their proposals for research and education programs.
Baiz will use the award to investigate how surfactants (soaps) containing mixtures of different compounds that mirror real-world compositions, behave differently than pure single-component surfactants commonly studied in the lab. Developing complex mixtures of surfactants for use in pharmaceuticals, personal care products, foods and laboratory applications is currently a trial-and-error process, which can be slow and costly. Baiz seeks to develop a molecular understanding of the dynamics of these complex surfactants in water to enable more rational design.
The educational component aims to implement a program to improve mental health and well-being among graduate students in the chemistry program at UT Austin. Baiz will partner with faculty, students and staff at the university's Counseling and Mental Health Center. Specific goals include reducing student anxiety and stress by creating a more open departmental culture, strengthening student/advisor relations, and assessing student-specific needs.
Baiz is the eighth UT Austin faculty member to be named a Cottrell Scholar. He joins Caitlin Casey (2019), Sean Roberts (2018), Stella Offner (2018), Michael Rose (2017), Michael Krische (2002), David Vanden Bout (2000) and Andrew Ellington (1995).
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