Published: June 1, 2022

Gordana Dukovic, professor of chemistry, leads an interdisciplinary research group studying nanoscale materials in solar energy


Gordana Dukovic, a professor of chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder has been named a finalist of the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists

Gordana Dukovic

At the top of the page: Chemistry Professor Gordana Dukovic leads a research group focused on nanoscience for solar energy harvesting. Above: Professor Dukovic has been named a finalist of the 2022 Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists. 

After evaluating 309 nominees, a jury designated Dukovic as one of the top candidates in the chemistry category.

Dukovic, who is also a fellow in the CU Boulder Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (or RASEI), leads a research group probing fundamental problems in nanoscience, especially the application of nanoscale materials to solar energy harvesting.

Three 2022 Blavatnik National Awards Laureates—one each in the categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering and Chemistry—will be selected by the jury from the group of finalists and announced in late June.

The Blavatnik National Awards honor “America’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers,” the Blavatnik Family Foundation States. Each year the Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in each disciplinary category receives $250,000 in unrestricted funds.

The Blavatnik National Awards for Young Scientists, established in the United States in 2007 and independently administered by the New York Academy of Sciences, were first awarded in 2014.

In 2017, they were expanded to honor faculty-rank scientists in the United Kingdom and in Israel. About 60 percent of all recipients are immigrants to the country in which they were recognized and hail from 47 countries across six continents, reflecting the Blavatnik Family Foundation’s recognition that important science is a global enterprise.

Dukovic said it was “truly an honor” to be named a finalist for the Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists. “I am grateful for the contributions of students, postdocs, and collaborators to the research recognized by this selection and am excited to see what discoveries lie ahead,” she said.

Dukovic earned a PhD in physical chemistry from Columbia University in 2006. She joined the CU Boulder faculty in 2009.

She has been previously recognized with notable awards: She won a 2014 Sloan Research Fellowship, was named a 2013 Beckman Young Investigator and a 2013 Cottrell Scholar, and won a 2012 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.