Grp photo 2025 Fall

Our research focus can be summarized as analytical surface-science. Nearly all of our research is based on measurements of chemical interactions with surfaces, and most of our instrumentation is specifically designed to examine interfacial phenomena. If you've ever wondered why oil spreading on water looks like a rainbow, why you can only make sand castles with wet sand, or how Rain-X® keeps your windshield so clean, you might be interested in our work. We use precice measurements of chemical behaviors to create new, fundamental understanding of these types of questions to address important challenges in environmental remediation, materials development, and energy science. 

Detailed descriptions of our research projects and some laboratory pictures can be found within this website.  If you have questions, feel free to send us an email or arrange a visit to our lab.  Follow us on Twitter @shawschem (group) or @shawchem (Prof Shaw)

Research for All

The Shaw group accepts that scientific advancement suffers without participation from all varied communities. We proactively engage all people regardless of status or ability. We acknowledge institutional challenges within the sciences, both for and against, certain groups of people. To counter this and provide clearer pathways to success, we work to create an inviting and enjoyable environment to do, and share, good science for all. Through formal training and informal interactions, we continuously strive to improve ourselves while advocating for each others’ success. We hope our efforts will support positive changes within our field.

 

Event and news feeds

Departmental Events

Three Month Seminar- Bichitra Borah (Margulis)

Monday, February 2, 2026 12:30pm
Chemistry Building

"Structure and Dynamics of Ionic Fluids Across Broad Temperature Regimes"

Library Workshop: Reading Scientific Articles

Thursday, February 26, 2026 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Sciences Library

Learning to efficiently read and understand scientific literature can be a time-consuming process. In this workshop, you’ll  learn strategies to begin to understand scientific literature in both your field and others. Presented by Laurie Neuerburg, sciences head engagement librarian at the Sciences Library. 

This workshop will be presented virtually and in-person

Colloquium- Niri Govind

Friday, April 3, 2026 3:30pm to 4:20pm
Pappajohn Business Building

Niri Govind- Physicist at PNNL

https://www.pnnl.gov/people/niri-govind

"Shining Light and Making Molecules Dance: Theoretical Explorations in X-ray Spectroscopies and Ultrafast Dynamics"

Abstract: Understanding how charge and nuclear motion evolve within a molecule following photoexcitation is central to unraveling the fundamental principles that govern photoinduced processes in chemistry and materials. X-rays, with their element-specific sensitivity, provide a unique window into these ultrafast...

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Professional Development Events

Departmental Brown Bag: Stephanie Leach promotional image

Departmental Brown Bag: Stephanie Leach

Wednesday, February 11, 2026 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Psychological and Brain Sciences Building

Brown Bag events feature presentations by Psychological and Brain Sciences graduate students from the Cognitive and Behavioral Cognitive Neuroscience training areas.

Stephanie Leach is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Stephanie is in the Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience training area and is a member of the Hwang Lab.

Title and abstract to come

Departmental Brown Bag: Koushani Biswas and Hazal Arpaci promotional image

Departmental Brown Bag: Koushani Biswas and Hazal Arpaci

Wednesday, February 25, 2026 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Psychological and Brain Sciences Building

Brown Bag events feature presentations by Psychological and Brain Sciences graduate students from the Cognitive and Behavioral Cognitive Neuroscience training areas.

Koushani Biswas is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Koushani is in the Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience training area and is a member of the Freeman Lab.

Hazal Arpaci is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Hazal is in the Behavioral & Cognitive...

Application Deadline: Obermann-Humanities Without Walls Graduate Student Summer Internships promotional image

Application Deadline: Obermann-Humanities Without Walls Graduate Student Summer Internships

Monday, March 2, 2026 5:00pm
111 Church Street

The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies invites UI graduate students in humanities and humanities-adjacent programs to apply for paid summer internships with Iowa City nonprofit organizations Public Space One, Neighborhood Centers of Johnson County, and the Iowa City Public Library Friends Foundation. Six positions are available (two at each site).

This eight-week summer program will give UI graduate students the chance to gain hands-on professional experience outside the classroom while...

Data Centers in Iowa: Perspectives from Community, Government, and Industry promotional image

Data Centers in Iowa: Perspectives from Community, Government, and Industry

Monday, March 9, 2026 12:30pm to 2:00pm
Boyd Law Building
This panel will offer a high-level overview of how community, government, and industry considerations shape data center development in Iowa and the broader Midwest.
Departmental Brown Bag: Taylor Christiansen and Emily Schulz promotional image

Departmental Brown Bag: Taylor Christiansen and Emily Schulz

Wednesday, March 11, 2026 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Psychological and Brain Sciences Building

Brown Bag events feature presentations by Psychological and Brain Sciences graduate students from the Cognitive and Behavioral Cognitive Neuroscience training areas.

Taylor Christiansen is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Taylor is in the Behavioral & Cognitive Neuroscience training area and is a member of the Blumberg Lab.

Emily Schulz is a Graduate Student in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. Emily is in the Behavioral & Cognitive...

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Articles

Publications

Scott K Shaw's Google Scholar

2024

DeYoung, J.L.; Akporere, U.G.; Cheng, Z.; China, S.; Vandergrift, G.W.; Anderton, C.R.; Zhou, Y.; Zhu, Z.; Shaw, S.K. Chemical Differences in Environmental Films Collected on Surfaces with Different Hydrophilicity. ACS Earth Space Chem. 2024, 8 (12), 2411-2419. DOI: 10.1021/acsearthspacechem.4c00170

Van Den Top, M.B.; Horvath, A.; Koutsoukos, S.; Philippi, F.; Rauber, D.; Welton, T.; Shaw, S.K. Increasing Cation Ion Symmetry Reduces Ionic Liquid Ordering in Thin Films. J. Phys. Chem. B 2024, 128 (45), 11251-11257. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.4c04413

Duke, R.; Sweet, A.; Stumme, N.C.; Ordikhani-Seyedlar, R.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Yang, C.; Yang, H.; Perera, A.; Green, L.; Endres, K.; Losch, M.E.; Ganapathysubramanian, B.; Mason, S.E.; Sarkar, S.; Shaw, S.K.; Risko, C.; Jenkins, J.L.; Teague, C.M. In the Mix: A Workshop Merging Computational Chemistry and Electrochemistry Alongside Data Science. J. Chem. Educ. 2024, 101 (11), 5060-5067. DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00727

Nelson, B.; Huang, W.; Shen, N.; Shaw, S.K.; Lamuta, C.; Ding H. Evolving surface wettability in laser-powder bed fusion printed metal parts. Manuf. Lett. 2024, 40, 45-49. DOI: 10.1016/j.mfglet.2024.02.003

Bi, J.; Witt, E.; McGovern, M.K.; Cafi, A.B.; Rosenstock, L.L.; Pearson, A.B.; Brown, T.J.; Karasic, T.B.; Absler, L.C.; Machkanti, S.; Boyce, H,; Gallo, D.; Becker, S.L.; Ishida, K.; Jenkins, J.; Hayward, A,; Scheiflinger, A.; Bodeker, K.L.; Kumar, R.; Shaw, S.K.; Jabbour, S.K.; Lira, V.A.; Henry, M.D.; Tift, M.S.; Otterbein, L.E.; Traverso, G.; Byrne, J.D. Oral carbon monoxide enhances autophagy modulation in prostate, pancreatic, and lung cancers. Advanced Science 2024, 11 (9), 2308346. DOI: 10.1002/advs.202308346

Duke, R.; Mahmoudi, S.; Kaur, A.P.; Bhat, V.; Dingle, I.C.; Stumme, N.C.; Shaw, S.K.; Eaton, D.; Vego, A.; Risko, C. ExpFlow: a graphical user interface for automated reproducible electrochemistry. Digital Discovery 2024, 3 (1), 163-172. DOI: 10.1039/D3DD00156C

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