# Physical Chemistry ## Browse By Research Area [**Analytical Chemistry**](/analytical-chemistry "Analytical Chemistry") [**Biophysics**](/biophysics "Biophysics") [**Catalysis**](/catalysis "Catalysis") [**Chemical Biology**](/chemical-biology "Chemical Biology") [**Energy**](/energy "Energy") [**Inorganic Chemistry**](/inorganic-chemistry "Inorganic Chemistry") [**Materials**](/materials "Materials") [**Organic Chemistry**](/organic-chemistry "Organic Chemistry") [**Organometallics**](/organometallics "Organometallics") [**Physical Chemistry**](/physical-chemistry "Physical Chemistry") [**Theoretical Chemistry**](/theoretical-chemistry "Theoretical Chemistry") From the elucidation of the properties and behavior of nanostructures to the characterization of the interior workings of individual cells to the preparation of the first quantum spin liquid, research in experimental physical chemistry and chemical physics is an intriguing and inviting area of study in CCB. Newly developed spectroscopic methods help researchers follow reactions on surfaces, in the stratosphere, in live cells, all the way down to the single photon level, and in so doing help guide further design of new systems. ## Recent News [### Adam Cohen receives Genomic Medicines Fund award ](/news/2026/06/adam-cohen-receives-genomic-medicines-fund-award) June 08, 2026 The Office of the Vice Provost for Research (OVPR) is pleased to announce that awards have been made to five projects from the Harvard University Genomic Medicines Fund. The fund is intended to support of research involving genome editing that is useful... ![Adam Cohen](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2025-05/Adam%20Cohen-Memories%20PUBLIC.jpg?itok=7EBCJf1R) [### Xiaowei Zhuang awarded the 2026 Dickson Prize in Medicine ](/news/2026/06/xiaowei-zhuang-awarded-2026-dickson-prize-medicine) June 05, 2026 Xiaowei Zhuang, David B. Arnold Jr. Professor of Science at Harvard University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, has been named the recipient of the 2026 Dickson Prize in Medicine, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s highest... ![A photo of Xiaowei Zhuang in her lab](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/chemistry/files/101518_zhuang_011_h_2500.jpg?itok=6bduJW0-) [### Profile: The atlas maker of the microscopic world ](/news/2026/05/profile-atlas-maker-microscopic-world) May 29, 2026 Throughout the history of biology, numerous discoveries stemmed from observing living systems, but seeing the innerworkings of living organisms presents challenges. Xiaowei Zhuang, David B. Arnold Professor of Science, has spent her career developing... ![MERFISH](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/2026-05/MERFISH_whole%20mouse%20brain%20cell%20atlas_11485952504197301151_web.jpg?itok=EK3L4kll) [ more news arrow\_circle\_right ](/news) ## Physical Chemistry Faculty [### Adam Cohen ](/people/adam-cohen) John P. Reardon Jr. Professor of Chemistry & Chemical Biology and of Physics (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager: Hillary Piccerillo Adam Cohen works at the interface of physics, chemistry and biology. His lab develops new physical tools to study molecules and cells. The Cohen Lab developed fluorescent voltage-indicating proteins which enable... ![adam_cohen-sm.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/adam_cohen-sm.jpg?itok=6uvokuoR) [### Boris Kozinsky ](/people/boris-kozinsky) Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Gordon McKay Professor of Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering ![kozinsky_200x300.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/kozinsky_200x300.jpg?itok=h6xpKnm-) [### Chin-Dian Wei ](/people/chin-dian-wei) person [### Cynthia Friend ](/people/cynthia-friend) Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Materials Science, Emerita (Not Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Leah DeFrancesco Controlling the chemical and physical properties of interfaces is central to many technologies and particularly in addressing global challenges in reducing energy costs and in developing alternative... ![c_friend.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/c_friend_1.jpg?itok=njTqCMlB) [### Daniel G. Nocera ](/people/daniel-g-nocera) Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy (Accepting Graduate Students) Daniel G. Nocera is the Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University. A descriptive bio of Professor Nocera can be found here. ![nocera2.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/nocera2.jpg?itok=LpCxgzgZ) [### Dudley Herschbach ](/people/dudley-herschbach) Frank B. Baird, Jr. Professor of Science, Emeritus (Not Accepting Graduate Students) Dudley Herschbach joined Harvard as a Professor of Chemistry in 1963. The major path of his research developed experiments and theory to elucidate molecular dynamics of reaction dynamics in single collisions. That work, considered "lunatic fringe" at its... ![dudley_herschbach.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/dudley_herschbach.jpg?itok=-azAsMOx) [### Eric Heller ](/people/eric-heller) Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Chemistry Professor of Physics (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Pattee McGarry Eric Heller joined the physics faculty at Harvard in 1993, and became a CCB faculty member in 2009. He received his PhD in Chemical Physics from Harvard. His research centers on time dependent and... ![A headshot of Eric Heller](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/eric_heller.jpg?itok=_ePEnI9v) [### Eugene I. Shakhnovich ](/people/eugene-i-shakhnovich) Roy G. Gordon Professor of Chemistry (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Pattee McGarry The research of Professor Eugene Shakhnovich and his group is directed towards understanding the basic principles of protein folding and structural and dynamical properties of other complex polymer systems... ![shaknovich.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/shaknovich.jpg?itok=S02YEU6e) [### Frank Keutsch ](/people/frank-keutsch) Stonington Professor of Engineering and Atmospheric Science Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Lori Reck Research in the Keutsch group is aimed at improving our understanding of photochemical oxidation processes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that produce tropospheric ozone and are central to secondary... ![frank_keutsch.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/frank_keutsch.jpg?itok=j8EssoDy) [### George Whitesides ](/people/george-whitesides) Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Research Professor (Not Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Melissa LeGrand George M. Whitesides was born August 3, 1939 in Louisville, KY. He received an A.B. degree from Harvard University in 1960 and a Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology (with J.D. Roberts) in... ![whitesides.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/whitesides.jpg?itok=NQ2d83C3) [### Hongkun Park ](/people/hongkun-park) Mark Hyman Jr. Professor of Chemistry Professor of Physics (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Rona Gertner Hongkun Park received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from the College of Natural Sciences at Seoul National University, Korea, where he graduated summa cum laude and Valedictorian in 1990. Following a year of... ![Professor Hongkun Park](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/hongkunpark.jpg?itok=LwWZck_3) [### James G. Anderson ](/people/james-anderson) Philip S. Weld Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Rob Stanhope Education: U. Washington — Physics, B.S., 1966 U. Colorado — Physics/Astrogeophysics, Ph.D., 1970 U. Pittsburgh — Department of Physics, Postdoctoral Fellow, 1971-1972 Appointments: 1982– Present — Philip S... ![A headshot of James G. Anderson](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/james_anderson.jpg?itok=qKER178-) [### Jarad Mason ](/people/jarad-mason) Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Pamela Hernandez The Mason Group applies the tools of coordination chemistry, materials science, and nanotechnology to the synthesis of materials that address basic science challenges in energy and sustainable development... ![Mason, Jarad](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/j_mason.jpg?itok=GPR5soL-) [### Jinchen Liu ](/people/jinchen-liu) person [### Joanna Aizenberg ](/people/joanna-aizenberg) Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Laboratory Manager/Administrator: Marina McLaughlin The Aizenberg lab's research is aimed at understanding some of the basic principles of biological architectures and the economy with which biology solves complex problems in the design of multifunctional... ![Professor Aizenberg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/aizenberg_web.jpg?itok=9YKXgg1W) [### Joonho Lee ](/people/joonho-lee) Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Administrator: Pattee McGarry The Lee group develops and implements theoretical and computational methods to study a wide range of exciting phenomena in nature, whose understanding is challenged by electron-electron, electron-vibration... ![Joonho Lee](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/joonho_lee_1.jpg?itok=MO42bnx4) [### Kang-Kuen Ni ](/people/kang-kuen-ni) Theodore William Richards Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Physics (Accepting Graduate Students) Laboratory Administrator: Gina Yildirim The Ni research group is working to create molecules at the lowest possible temperatures, and to study their chemical reactions and physical interactions. At such ultra-cold temperatures, quantum mechanics describes... ![Kang-Kuen Ni](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/chemistry/files/kang-kuenniheadshot.jpg?itok=JgCCLLml) [### Lina Kodaimati ](/people/lina-kodaimati) person [### Roy Gordon ](/people/roy-gordon) Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Emeritus (Not Accepting Graduate Students) Professor Gordon studied chemical physics at Harvard with Professor J. H. Van Vleck. Following a Junior Fellowship at Toronto and Brussels, he returned to Harvard, where he has served as Chairman of the Department of Chemistry and is the Thomas D. Cabot... ![gordon.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum7776/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/gordon_1.jpg?itok=_yTkimOW) [### Sicheng Zhao ](/people/sicheng-zhao) person