Awards & Recognition

2026

• Mike Norman received the 2026 Bardeen Prize from the University of Illinois Department of Physics for theoretical work that has provided significant insights into the nature of superconductivity and led to verifiable predictions.
• Mercouri Kanatzidis received the 2026 William H. Nichols Medal from the American Chemical Society in recognition of his work on the development of halide perovskites for next-generation photovoltaics.
• Larry Curtiss was recognized with a 50-Year Anniversary Award in celebration of his 50 years of service at Argonne.
• Amanda Petford-Long, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow, retired from Argonne after serving as director of the Materials Science division, director of the Argonne Microelectronics Institute and interim chief research officer.

2025

• Mercouri Kanatzidis received the 2025 ACS Award in the Chemistry of Materials, a prominent award from the nation’s leading professional organization of chemists that ​“recognizes and encourages creative work in the chemistry of materials.”
• Stephan Rosenkranz was named an Argonne Distinguished Fellow the laboratory’s highest scientific and engineering rank, in recognition of his groundbreaking contributions to condensed matter physics and neutron scattering research.
• Kartiek Agarwal, Yue Cao, Danny Phelan and Haidan Wen were selected to participate in the PSE Leadership Development Program.
• Sanja Tepavcevic was recognized by ACS Publications as one of the women scientists at the forefront of energy research for her work on zinc metal anodes and aqueous zinc sulfate electrolytes.
• Rajeev Assary was selected to participate in the 2025 PSE Manager Boot Camp leadership development program.
• Ashley Bielinski received a 2025 LDRD prime funding award for her proposal, ​“Electrically Modulated Selective Adsorption of Critical Minerals, Nickel and Cobalt.”
• Jolene O’Bryan transitioned to a new role as Lead Financial Business Partner for PSE after serving as the financial business partner for MSD since 2019.
• Youngjun Ahn received the 2025 Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Association of Korean Physicists in America for his contributions to the study of light-matter interactions in quantum materials using ultrafast X-ray optical techniques.
• Wenzhe (Victor) Yu was selected as one of five finalists for the Volker-Heine Award at the PSi-K Conference, a leading conference in electronic structure research.
• Yue Li received the Early Career Distinguished Presenter Award at the 2025 Materials Research Society Spring Meeting.
• Cailin Buchanan was named the 2025 BCI Battery Poster Research Showcase Winner for her presentation at the 2025 BCI Convention + Power Mart and also received the Women in the Global Battery Industry Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Poster Submission.
• Supratik Guha received a U.S. patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for ​“Low Refractive Index Surface Layers and Related Methods.”
• Michael Norman received the 2025 PSE Excellence Award for Career Achievement in recognition of his outstanding achievements and distinguished service to Argonne’s scientific mission.
• Rachid Amine and his Argonne team received a 2025 R&D 100 Award for ​“Ultra-stable and Low-Cost Dual-Gradient Cathode for High-Performance All-Electric Vehicles.”
• Yi Li received the 2025 PSE Early Investigator Named Award in recognition of exceptional early-career research contributions aligned with Argonne’s strategic mission.
• Cailin Buchanan was selected as a fellow for the 2025 Scialog workshop on Automating Chemical Laboratories, where she collaborated on research program ideas that were selected for funding.
• Matt Tirrell received the 2025 College of Natural Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Natural Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in recognition of his leadership, innovation and contributions to science and society.
• Hassan Harb received an Outstanding Poster Presentation Award at the 2025 Postdoctoral Research and Career Symposium for ​“Large Language Models for Chemistry and Materials Discovery.”

2024

• Valentine Novosad was named an Argonne Distinguished Fellow, the laboratory’s highest scientific and engineering rank, in recognition of his interdisciplinary research in magnetic and superconducting materials and their applications in fields including spintronics, nuclear physics, quantum information science and nanomedicine.
• Michael Counihan received an Argonne Postdoctoral Performance Award for his research on solid-state lithium-metal batteries and low-cost recyclable electrolyte materials for energy storage applications.
• Mercouri Kanatzidiswas elected to the National Academy of Sciences.
• Amanda Petford-Long was elected a Fellow of the Materials Research Society.
• A team including Justin Connell and Rajeev Assary received an Impact Argonne Award for Program Development for their leadership in establishing the Center for Steel Electrification by Electrosynthesis (C-STEEL) Energy Earthshot Research Center.
• Michael Leonhardt received the January 2024 PSE Employee of the Month Award for outstanding support of research operations and safety coordination within the Materials Science division.
• Richard Vitt received the March 2024 PSE Employee of the Month Award for leadership and coordination during the installation of a new cryostat in MSD.
• Haidan Wen and other members of the Ultrafast Electron Microscopy Team received a 2024 Board of Governors Distinguished Performance Award for developing an ultrafast electron microscope user program.
• Giulia Galli received the 2024-2025 Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry from the Theoretical Chemistry Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison for significant contributions to theoretical chemistry.
• Kaline Nascimento da Silva received second place in Argonne’s 2024 Art of Science Contest for the image ​“Lead Hydroxide Origami.”
• A team comprising Pietro Papa Lopes, Cailin Buchanan, Frederick Agyapong-Fordjour, Kaline Nascimento da Silva, Alex Martinson and Ashley Bielinski received the 2024 Argonne Commercialization Excellence Award for research associated with the Lead Battery Science Research Program (LPSRP).
• Yi Li received the 2024 AVS Prairie Chapter Early Career Research Award.
• Michael Leonhardt and Seth Picicco received a SPOT Award for supporting the annual emergency exercise as safety monitors..
• John Mitchell received the 2024 PSE Excellence Award for Career Achievement for his leadership and pioneering contributions to solid-state chemistry and bulk single-crystal growth.