Michael Shatruk, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has won a coveted Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). For Shatruk, the award marks his second major successful NSF grant since September 2009. “Although they are drastically different projects,” Shatruk said, “magnetism is the unifying theme.” While it is highly unusual for a young professor to win two NSF grants at the same time, Shatruk explained that his two grants come from separate NSF divisions. His CAREER grant, worth $500,000 over five years, comes from the Division of Materials Research, while his earlier grant, worth $382,000 over three years, comes from the Division of Chemistry. In research funded by the NSF CAREER grant, he and his team are looking at magnetic solids that combine elements from three different parts of the periodic table: the rare earth elements; the transition metals; and the nitrogen group, also known as the pnictogens. In a nutshell, he is trying to create new magnets. While researchers already know that certain mixed metal combinations — for example, lanthanum, cobalt, and phosphorous — are very promising magnetic materials, Shatruk and his team plan to tweak and improve the properties of these magnets by substituting other rare earth metals (such as europium) for the lanthanum, iron for the cobalt, and arsenic for the phosphorus. “Professor Shatruk has had a tremendous positive impact on research and teaching in our department,” said Joseph Schlenoff, Mandelkern Professor of Polymer Science and chair of the chemistry department. “His leadership in materials science has stimulated collaborative activities across campus. We are delighted, but not surprised, that he has had this much success so early in his career.” To read more, go to http://www.fsu.edu/news/2009/12/14/chemistry.award/