Christopher L. Eisgruber President of Princeton University | Princeton University Official Website
Christopher L. Eisgruber President of Princeton University | Princeton University Official Website
Robert Knowles has been named a Ross Brown Investigator, an honor that supports distinguished mid-career faculty and their curiosity-driven research in chemistry or physics. Knowles is one of eight investigators named to the 2024 class, receiving a five-year grant for his proposal to explore a novel hypothesis on the evolution of homochirality — the presence in nature of just one of two mirror-image forms of biomolecules.
“I was really surprised and delighted,” said Knowles. “It’s a very generous amount of support and will mean a lot to our group over the next few years. It will allow us to do things that we couldn’t do otherwise and support students that we couldn’t support otherwise."
“The thing that’s unique,” he added, “is that the Brown Investigators program really supports blue sky, out-of-the-box ideas that would be very difficult to support through other funding sources because they’re risky. I’m thrilled and humbled that the program will allow us to go forward with our proposal.”
Organic molecules in nature often exist as single enantiomers, a specific arrangement of atoms reflected in the molecule’s three-dimensional structure. The physical origins of homochirality and its initial propagation mechanism are not clearly understood despite numerous hypotheses.
“Our lab has a new hypothesis that has never been tested before. And so we proposed to see if we could observe this behavior in an experimental setting,” said Knowles. “Now, we will have a chance to look into it.”
The Brown Investigators program was established in 2020 by the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Ross M. Brown, a Caltech alumnus and founder/former CEO of Cryogenic Industries, established the Investigator Awards believing that “scientific discovery is a driving force in the improvement of the human condition.”
In its first three years, the program has funded 13 investigators. Nominees are evaluated by an independent scientific review board, with select research universities across the country invited to nominate faculty members within 10 years of having received tenure who are conducting innovative fundamental research in physical sciences.
Read more about this announcement on Caltech's press release about the Brown Investigators.
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