The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded UConn Chemistry Professor José Gascón and Michigan State Professor Warren Beck a grant to study Carotenoid Photophysics in Photosynthetic Light-Harvesting.

With this $590,000 award, the Chemistry of Life Processes Program in the Chemistry Division is funding Dr. Gascón (PI) and Dr. Beck (co-PI) to investigate the energy transfer and photoprotection functions of carotenoids in the proteins of photosynthetic organisms. This research will produce a systematic and synergistic examination of these mechanisms, combining advanced electronic structure calculations in proteins and advanced spectroscopy techniques to discover the controlling spectral factors and the dynamical fate of carotenoids during the first events of light harvesting and photoprotection in photosynthetic proteins.