News Release

Nina Markovic of the Johns Hopkins University's Henry A. Rowland Department of Physics and Astronomy has won the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development award, which recognizes young scientists' devotion to both research and education. This prestigious prize brings with it a five-year, $500,000 grant that will enable Markovic to continue her investigations into the electrical properties of nanometer scale materials.

"I am indeed privileged to get this award," says Markovic. "It is very competitive, and it is truly an honor to receive it. I have recently finished building a laboratory at Johns Hopkins and have four graduate students working on various aspects of electron transport in low dimensions. The award will pay for their stipends and supplies for our experiments, such as liquid helium. Receiving this award from the National Science Foundation is a wonderful start for me and my group."

The National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program supports the early career development activities of teacher-scholars, according to Wendy Fuller- Mora, program director for NSF's Condensed Matter Physics section.

"Successful applicants to the CAREER competition have proposed creative, integrative and effective research and education plans, developed within the context of the mission, goals and resources of their organizations. These plans will build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education," she said.

Markovic came to Johns Hopkins in 2003 from work as a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University. She earned her B.S. in physics in 1993 from the University of Zagreb, Croatia and her Ph.D. in physics in 1998 from the University of Minnesota. In 2004, she received a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.

"We are fortunate to have Dr. Markovic on our faculty," said Jonathan Bagger, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins. "Her research is exciting; she is a magnet for students and she is active in our program for public outreach. I am delighted that she has been honored in this way by the National Science Foundation."