Prashant Jain

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• Jain Lab

Biography

Prof. Prashant Jain earned his PhD from Georgia Tech where he investigated the flow of energy and charge carriers on the nanoscale using ultrafast spectroscopy and theoretical electrodynamics. Following his PhD, Prof. Jain moved to Harvard where he helped Adam Cohen launch a research program on magneto-optics and chiro-optics. A Miller Research Fellowship took Prof. Jain to UC Berkeley, where he studied quantum dots in the laboratory of Paul Alivisatos.

Prof. Jain and his group experimentally and theoretically investigate nanoscale light-matter interactions. They confine light using nanostructures and use these concentrated photons for inducing novel chemical reactivity, powering the synthesis of fuels and chemicals, and dechipering how catalysts function at the atomic level. His laboratory has discovered plasmon resonances in quantum dots and new crystal phases that exist only on the nanoscale.

Prof. Jain currently serves as a Senior Editor of the Journal of Physical Chemistry and as a member of the Editorial Advisory Boards of JACS and Journal of Chemical Physics. He teaches graduate & undergraduate physical chemistry for which he has received recognition, including the LAS Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the School of Chemical Sciences Faculty Teaching Award, and a mention on UIUC's Teachers Ranked as Excellent list for every course he has taught. He currently serves as Associate Head of Undergraduate Instruction in the Department of Chemistry. He has previously served as Associate Head of Major Projects in the Department of Chemistry, Chair of the Chemical Physics PhD program, member of the faculty hiring, tenure, and promotion committee, and the Diversity Advocate for the department. Prof. Jain has published over 125 peer-reviewed journal articles and given over 140 invited/award/keynote/plenary lectures. His research has been cited over 36,000 times and featured extensively in the science media. He is the lead developer of nanoDDSCAT & nanoDDSCAT+, an open-source computational toolkit for nano-optics and photonics, which has been used to launch nearly a million simulations by users across the world. 

Research Statement

Light-matter interactions are central in nature, life, and in technology. There are three aspects of the quantum light-matter interface that we study using spectroscopy, microscopy, and theory:
i) We employ the rich interplay between visible light and metal catalysts for selective formation of chemical bonds, catalyzing multielectron chemistry, and manufacturing fuels and energetic chemicals.
ii) We image with unprecedented resolution chemical reactions on surfaces or in nanoparticles and uncover their mechanistic pathways.
iii) We design materials and coax them into exhibiting non-natural optical or optoelectronic phenomena.
In summary, we are learning how to control and harness light as a source of energy and as a means to control the attributes and function of advanced materials.

We are a diverse team with interest and expertise in catalysis, spectroscopy, materials science, and condensed matter physics. The tools we use include single-molecule spectroscopy, nanochemistry, high-resolution electron microscopy, plasmonics, and theory. The systems we investigate range from artificial photosynthetic systems to nanophotonic switches. Our research has had direct impact on the follow areas:
Photosynthesis and Energy Conversion: Driving multielectron fuel-forming reactions by plasmonic light excitation.
Catalysis: Discovering active sites and reaction pathways of catalysts by super-resolution imaging.
Nanoscience: Discovery of unconventional excitations, phases, and transport in nanocrystals.

Prospective postdoctoral researchers, graduate students who have been admitted to a program at UIUC, undergraduate students at UIUC, and collaborators interested in the above research projects are welcome to contact us.

Graduate Research Opportunities

Experimental Physical and Theoretical Chemistry: Quantum light-matter interactions; superresolution vibrational spectroscopy; chemistry under quantized excitations; mechanisms of energy and charge flow on the nanoscale; plasmonics; photophysics and photochemistry; phase transitions on the nanoscale

Condensed Matter Physics: Quantum plasmon resonances; electronic structure and reaction dynamics under non-equilibrium conditions; phase transitions; crystal phases with spin-protected states.

Materials Chemistry: Plasmonics; energy chemistry; artificial photosynthesis; nanocatalysis; sustainable chemical synthesis; nanoscale imaging; photophysics and photochemistry; nanocrystals

Analytical Chemistry: Energy chemistry; sustainable chemical synthesis; electrochemistry; plasmonics; artificial photosynthesis; multielectron catalysis; nanoscale imaging

Inorganic Chemistry: Energy chemistry; artificial photosynthesis; multielectron catalysis; sustainable chemical synthesis

Chemical Engineering: Heterogeneous catalysis; nanocatalysis; thermal and nonthermal catalysis

Journal Editorships

• Senior Editor, The Journal of Physical Chemistry

Teaching Honors

• Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students (Fall 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24; Spring 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 24)
• School of Chemical Sciences Faculty Teaching Award (2015)
• LAS Dean's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2024)
• Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2024)

Research Honors

• Dupont Young Professor Award (2013)
• Arnold and Mabel O. Beckman Young Investigator Award (2014)
• American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund Doctoral New Investigator Award (2014)
• Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (2014)
• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2015)
• Journal of Physical Chemistry C Lectureship (2015)
• 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award (2015)
• Most Cited Researchers in ChemE as per Elsevier Scopus (2016)
• Kavli Emerging Leader in Chemistry and Lectureship, ACS (2017)
• I. C. Gunsalus Scholar (2017-18)
• Center for Advanced Studies Beckman Fellow (2017)
• Campus Distinguished Promotion Award, UIUC (2017)
• American Vacuum Society Prairie Chapter Early Career Award (2017)
• Richard and Margaret Romano Professorial Scholar (2018-)
• Highly Cited Researcher, Clarivate Analytics (2018)
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2018)
• Discovery Fund Award, Department of Chemistry (2018)
• Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (2019)
• Beilby Medal and Prize (2019)
• Defense Science Study Group (2020-22)
• Campus Distinguished Promotion Award (2020)
• Alumni Research Scholar (2020)
• Science News Magazine Ten Scientists to Watch, SN10 (2020)
• Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2020)
• Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists Finalist Medal (2020,21,&23)
• Kavli Fellow, National Academy of Sciences (2021)
• Leo Hendrik Baekeland Medal, American Chemical Society, North Jersey Section (2021)
• Center for Advanced Studies Associate (2022)
• University Scholar (2022)
• Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (2022)
• Elected Fellow of the American Physical Society (2022)
• Endowed G. L. Clark Professor of Physical Chemistry (2023)
• Akron American Chemical Society (ACS) Award (2023)
• NSF I-ADVANCE Faculty Fellow (2025)
• Craver Award (2025)