9/14/2026 Jackson Brunner
Professor and Racheff Faculty Scholar Qian Chen has been named a finalist for the 2026 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in Physical Sciences and Engineering. She hopes this national honor will lead to further collaborations in intersections of materials science, microscopy and more.
Written by Jackson Brunner
Professor and Racheff Faculty Scholar Qian Chen earned esteemed recognition from The Blavatnik Family Foundation when the organization named her one of six finalists for the 2026 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists in Physical Sciences and Engineering.
The Blavatnik Awards are presented by the foundation and are administered by The New York Academy of Sciences. They recognize the most promising researchers under the age of 42 in the United States across life sciences, chemistry and physical sciences and engineering. The awards are among the most prestigious and competitive in science. Chen’s recognition underscores the national leadership of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering in high-impact materials research.
Chen is recognized for her work pioneering “electron videography,” an approach that films nanoparticles and proteins in motion at near-atomic and nanometer scales. By revealing how nanoscale structures form, move, interact and transform in real time, her work provides insights that were previously inaccessible and enables new approaches to designing programmable materials for photonics, sensing, energy and biomedicine. These advances are informing the development of catalysts, batteries, drug-delivery systems and materials with unusual optical and mechanical properties.
"It means a great deal to me, especially because it recognizes a body of work that has taken many years and many people to build," Chen said. "I am deeply grateful to my students and postdocs, and to my collaborators, whose ideas and hard work have made this journey possible. I am also very thankful to my department for creating an environment where we could pursue ambitious ideas, and to our funding agencies for supporting work that often began with fundamental questions."
"Qian's work has redefined what's possible in imaging matter in motion, and this recognition from The Blavatnik Family Foundation reflects the caliber of science she and her group are producing," said Paul Braun, head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. "She's exactly the kind of bold, boundary-crossing researcher this department was built to support, and we couldn't be prouder to see her work recognized on this stage."
“A movie is worth a thousand words, especially at the atomic or nanometer scale. Together with the broader scientific community, my group is pushing the boundaries of imaging and analysis to reveal previously inaccessible dynamics in materials and biological systems, translating these insights into advances in manufacturing, sustainability, and healthcare." - Professor Qian Chen