Jaan Mannik, assistant professor of physics, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. Mannik was awarded $635,000 over five years, beginning in 2013. Mannik’s research group will be investigating how the most basic cellular functions, DNA replication and cell division, depend on the cell shape using Escherichia coli (E. coli) cells. These studies can point out new molecular targets for antibiotics, and develop micro- and nanoengineered chips that can be used in many laboratories for live cell imaging.
Mannik’s team will supervise students from UT’s VolsTeach program in their research methods course, provide opportunities for high school and undergraduate students to obtain interdisciplinary research experience, and perform presentations and lab tours for UT’s Educational Advancement Program with the aim of motivating participating students to choose careers in science.