UCR physicist receives highest honor US government gives young scientists or...( RIVERSIDE Calif. UC Riverside's p....)

RIVERSIDE, Calif. UC Riverside's Chun Ning (Jeanie) Lau has received a national honor that few outstanding researchers who are beginning their independent research careers are given.

Lau, an associate professor of physics, is one of the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for the 2008 competition. PECASE represents the highest honor a beginning scientist or engineer can receive in the United States.

Established in 1996, the PECASE program recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. A total of 100 PECASE winners were named for 2008.

Selection for the award is based on nominees' innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology as well as community service demonstrated through scientific leadership, education or community outreach. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy selects the awardees.

Lau and the other PECASE winners will be presented with their awards at a White House ceremony in the fall of 2009.

Individuals cannot apply for PECASE. A handful of participating funding agencies nominate young scientists and engineers for the awards. Each year the National Science Foundation (NSF) selects up to 20 nominees for PECASE from among those who have received awards under the NSF's CAREER program and who are most likely to become leaders of academic research and education in the twenty-first century.

Lau, the first PECASE winner at UCR, received a CAREER award from NSF in 2008, enabling her to experimentally investigate the electrical properties of graphene coupled to normal and superconducting electrodes. Graphene, first experi
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