Alán Aspuru-Guzik is the Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University. Professor Aspuru-Guzik obtained his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 2004. Following postdoctoral research with Martin Head-Gordon, he joined the faculty at Harvard in 2006. His research group works at the intersection of the fields of theoretical physical chemistry, quantum information theory and electronic structure theory. His research focuses on three main areas: The connections between quantum computation and chemistry; Theoretical studies of renewable energy materials; and methods development for the electronic structure of molecules and nano-materials.

Michael J. Aziz is the Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Professor Aziz's research focuses on the relationships between materials processing, structure, and properties in a variety of materials. In many instances a central role is played by kinetics: The study of mechanisms and rates of atomic transport and rearrangement.

Applications include microelectronics, optoelectronics, astronomical observation, and energy and climate change mitigation technologies. Ongoing projects include: Synthesis and properties of novel semiconductors and semiconductor nanostructures with applications in optoelectronics and photovoltaics; nanoporous materials produced by electrochemical processes with applications in catalysis and energy technology; electrochemical processes and materials for reversible fuel cells and carbon sequestration; nanoscale morphology evolution in ion sputter erosion with applications in novel liquid crystal displays, single biomolecule detectors and the imaging of extra-solar planets.

John Deutch is an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Deutch has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1970, and has served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry, Dean of Science, and Provost.

John Deutch has served in significant government and academic posts throughout his career. In May 1995, he was sworn in as Director of Central Intelligence following a unanimous vote in the Senate, and served as DCI until December 1996. In this position, he was head of the Intelligence Community (all foreign intelligence agencies of the United States) and directed the Central Intelligence Agency. From March 1994 to May 1995, he served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense. From March 1993 to March 1994, Dr. Deutch served as Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisitions and Technology.

From 1977 to 1980, John Deutch served in a number of positions for the U.S. Department of Energy: as Director of Energy Research, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Technology, and Undersecretary of the Department.

In addition John Deutch has served on many commissions during several presidential administrations. He has served on the President's Nuclear Safety Oversight Committee (1980–81); the President's Commission on Strategic Forces (1983); the White House Science Council (1985–89); the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology (1997–2001), the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (1990–93); the President' Commission on Aviation Safety and Security (1996); the Commission on Reducing and Protecting Government Secrecy (1996); and as Chairman of the Commission to Assess the Organization of the Federal Government to Combat the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (1998–99).

John Deutch earned a B.A. in history and economics from Amherst College, and both the B.S. in chemical engineering and Ph.D. in physical chemistry from M.I.T. He holds honorary degrees from Amherst College, University of Lowell, and Northeastern University. He serves as director for the following publicly held companies: Cheniere Energy, Citigroup, Cummins, and Raytheon. He is a trustee of the Center for American Progress, Resources for the Future, the Urban Institute (life), and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Professor Cynthia M. Friend is the T.W. Richards Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science at Harvard University. Professor Friend is known for her research on the fundamental study of the chemical and physical properties of surfaces and interfaces as applied to important scientific and technological problems. Currently, she is studying heterogeneous catalysis for energy development and environmental remediation, synthesis of nanostructures of metal oxides and sulfides for electronic and optical applications, and imaging of surface reactions at the atomic scale. Cynthia earned her undergraduate degree at University of Calif., Davis, in Chemistry in 1977, completed her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1981, under the direction of the late Earl Muetterties, and pursued postdoctoral research at Stanford University in the group of Prof. Robert Madix. She joined the Harvard Faculty in 1982 and has subsequently served in many leadership roles at Harvard—recently serving as Chair of the Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology from 2004 to 2007. She is currently the co-Director of the Harvard Materials Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) and a member of the Harvard Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC). Cynthia has been widely honored for her research, most recently for a prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Award in Germany.

Hongkun Park is the Professor of Chemistry and of Physics at Harvard University. The research interest of Hongkun Park lies in developing detailed physical and chemical understanding of chemically derived nanostructures through new experimental methods and applying this knowledge to possible technological applications. Current research efforts toward these general goals are centered on two areas: (1) to study electronic, magnetic, and optical properties of individual molecules, clusters, nanowires, carbon nanotubes, and their arrays using combined transport, scanning probe and optical measurements and to develop detailed understanding of their behaviors, and (2) to develop synthesis methods for oxide and chalcogenide nanostructures that exhibit novel electronic and magnetic properties and to study the role of phase transitions in determining their properties at the individual nanostructure level. Another research interest of Hongkun Park is to investigate spatiotemporal dynamics of neural networks by developing neuroelectronic interfaces. Neural networks, collections of neurons interconnected by synaptic junctions, form the physical basis of the central and peripheral nervous systems in biological organisms. Hongkun Park is also interested in deciphering the inner workings of neural networks by coupling biological neural networks to nano- and microfabricated nanoelectrode and patch-clamp arrays and by probing real-time dynamics of neural connections using both electrical and optical interrogation.

Shriram Ramanathan is the Assistant Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His research is focused on synthesis-structure-property relationships in materials. Research in Ramanathan's group is primarily focused on oxide thin films and nanostructures with emphasis on understanding how processing affects properties. Research activities include developing mechanistic understanding of initial stages of oxidation and corrosion of metals and oxygen incorporation into oxides under photon irradiation. Phase evolution in oxides and their stability as a function of temperature and doping is investigated using combination of structural, electrical and electrochemical studies. Quantitative determination of oxygen concentration in nanoscale oxides and research on techniques to precisely control oxygen stoichiometry at interfaces are also being actively pursued. Potential applications of our research include electronic devices, solar and hydrogen energy conversion, sensors.

Some on-going projects include: Mechanistic understanding of role of electric fields in initial oxidation kinetics of metals and alloys; size effects on ion conduction mechanisms in doped-fluorite oxides; phase transition mechanisms in rutile oxides and their active tuning; precise measurements of oxygen concentration and migration kinetics at oxide hetero-interfaces.

Daniel Schrag is the Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering and Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University. Dan studies climate and climate change over the broadest range of Earth history. He has examined changes in ocean circulation over the last several decades, with particular attention to El Niño and the tropical Pacific. He has worked on theories for Pleistocene ice-age cycles including a better determination of ocean temperatures during the Last Glacial Maximum, 20,000 years ago.

Dan also helped develop the Snowball Earth hypothesis, proposing that a series of global glaciations occurred between 750 and 580 million years ago that may have led to the evolution of multicellular animals. Currently he is working with economists and engineers on technological approaches to mitigating future climate change.

Emily Weiss is postdoctoral associate in George Whitesides' group in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, and will be joining the Department of Chemistry at Northwestern University as an assistant professor this summer.

She is interested in the fundamental physical chemistry (especially the optical and electronic properties) of colloidal semiconductor quantum dots in solution and the solid state, and self-assembled monolayers of molecules on inorganic substrates. Her research will use a variety of structural, optical and electrical methods of characterization, including ultrafast transient absorption and impedance spectroscopy, to understand mechanisms of charge and energy transport through heterogeneous (metal/organic and semiconductor/organic) interfaces and composites, and the special properties of nanostructures. Possible applications of this work include solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.

Robert M. Westervelt is the Mallinckrodt Professor of Applied Physics and of Physics at Harvard University. Westervelt's group investigates the quantum behavior of electrons inside nanoscale semiconductor structures and develops tools for the manipulation of biological systems. Current research topics include: Imaging electron flow through nanoscale devices—one-electron quantum dots, semiconductor nanowires, magnetic focusing structures—at low temperatures using scanning probe microscopy; making and testing coupled few-electron quantum dots for quantum information processing; and the development of hybrid Integrated Circuit/Microfluidic chips to trap, move, assemble and sort biological cells and small particles in fluids. Robert Westervelt is Director of the NSF-funded Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center at Harvard University, which includes participants at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Museum of Science, Boston. Previously Westervelt was Director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, and Co-Director of the Joint Services Electronics Program at Harvard.

George M. Whitesides is the Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor. Professor Whitesides and his group work in four areas: biochemistry, materials science, catalysis and physical organic chemistry. Each of these areas requires development of the fundamental skills of experimental chemistry - synthesis and characterization of new compounds, examination of relations between molecular structure and reactivity or physical properties—but each, in addition, develops skill in other techniques—surface spectroscopy, microbiology, electron microscopy, ellipsometry, reactor design, measurement of such physical properties. The group is eclectic and generalist in its approach: at different times research on a particular problem may require organic synthesis, organometallic chemistry, spectroscopy, computer analysis, biochemistry, molecular biology or a wide range of other techniques.

The specific foci of the research vary widely. Work in biochemistry currently centers on adhesion of mammalian cells, viruses and bacteria to surfaces, polyvalency, rational drug design, and biophysical studies centered around capillary electrophoresis and surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. Those coworkers concerned with materials science are occupied with the fabrication of nanostructures, microfluidic systems, microelectromechanical systems, and 3-D microstructures. The synthesis and characterization of structurally well-defined organic surfaces (especially using self-assembled monolayers) and solids, and the use of these assemblies to study physical properties such as wettability and biocompatibility, are an important component of this work. This area also includes studies in physical optics and unconventional methods of lithography (soft lithography; various forms of near-field optical lithography). Much of the work in catalysis centers on fuel cells. Problems in physical-organic chemistry address issues in self-assembly, especially using meso-scale systems (objects with dimensions from 10 µm—10 mm, held together by capillary and/or magnetic forces). Computation and simulation are also important tools in the group.

The group uses classical chemical techniques to work in areas of research that lie at the boundaries between chemistry and biology, catalysis, solid state physics, and engineering. Students who work in the group emerge as generalists, and there is a strong emphasis in learning how to carry out multidisciplinary and multi-investigator research, and how to communicate the results of research effectively.