Bliss named to Department of Energy program

PhD candidate Matthew Bliss received a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) award in recognition of his outstanding academic accomplishments, potential to contribute to the mission of the DOE Office of Science, and the merits of his research.

Bliss, who is pursuing a PhD in chemical engineering at Tufts and whose advisor is Assistant Professor Nav Nidhi Rajput, will be conducting part of his graduate thesis research with Dr. Xiaohui Qu at Brookhaven National Laboratory on a project titled “Designing Novel Organic Redox Active Materials for Flow Batteries.” Bliss has research interests in sustainable energy production and storage technologies, including electrode-electrolyte interfaces.

The Department of Energy SCGSR program seeks to “prepare graduate students for science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) careers critically important to the DOE Office of Science mission, by providing graduate thesis research opportunities through extended residency at DOE laboratories.” The program supports outstanding graduate students who are working in areas that relate to scientific challenges that are central to the Office of Science mission. The program helps sustain a strong pipeline for highly skilled scientific and technological workforce development. Bliss is among 62 awardees from 50 U.S. universities who will be conducting research at 14 DOE national laboratories, and is the first awardee from Tufts University.

“These graduate student awards prepare young scientists for STEM careers critically important to the DOE mission and the advancement of American science and technology,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette. “We are proud of the accomplishments these outstanding awardees have already made and look forward to following their achievements in the years to come. They represent the future leadership and innovation that will allow American science and engineering to excel in the 21st century.”