Florida State University Researcher Receives 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship for Quantum Materials Study
Summarize this article with:
Florida State University researcher Michael Shatruk, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been awarded a prestigious 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship to pioneer advancements in quantum materials. The fellowship, totaling 752,000 Danish kroner (approximately $117,000), will fund research at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen through early May, focusing on materials containing quantum bits for potential applications in healthcare and cybersecurity. “Quantum technologies are poised to revolutionize many areas, including computing, drug development and medical sensing,” Shatruk said. His work centers on molecular spin qubits within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)—structures recently recognized with the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry—aiming to improve the stability and power of quantum computing. Shatruk Awarded 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship for Quantum Materials A $117,000 grant, equivalent to 752,000 Danish kroner, has been awarded to Florida State University’s Michael Shatruk through the prestigious 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship. Shatruk’s work centers on developing materials containing quantum bits, the fundamental components of emerging quantum technologies, with potential applications spanning healthcare and cybersecurity.
The Novo Nordisk foundation, Denmark’s largest private sponsor of fundamental research, recognizes the transformative potential of this field. Novo Nordisk’s commitment extends beyond diabetes care—the company produces half the world’s insulin—to encompass broad scientific advancement. Shatruk intends to utilize advanced electron-diffraction crystallography, a technique for analyzing the structure of particles smaller than one-thousandth of a millimeter, to study molecular spin qubits within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). “This fellowship will allow me to carry out research on quantum materials with extensive use of electron-diffraction crystallography,” Shatruk said. Wei Yang, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, highlighted the significance of Shatruk’s achievement, stating, “Shatruk’s research is highly innovative and rich with transformative insights and effective realizations.” The FSU Initiative in Quantum Science and Engineering, founded by Shatruk in 2023 with over $20 million in funding, underscores the university’s dedication to advancing quantum technologies. “While in Denmark, I plan to work on the systems that create two-dimensional arrays of qubits,” Shatruk said, emphasizing the project’s focus on improving quantum computing stability.
Molecular Spin Qubits within Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) Current efforts to build functional quantum computers are increasingly focused on harnessing molecular spin qubits, and a promising avenue involves embedding these within metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs. These highly customizable materials, awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, provide a unique environment to enhance qubit performance. Shatruk’s research specifically centers on achieving greater stability and power in quantum computing through this integration. “The focus of my project is to study molecular spin qubits placed in the nodes of metal-organic frameworks, or MOFs, to increase computing stability and power,” he explained. MOFs themselves are crystalline structures built from metallic ions and organic molecules, creating porous materials often smaller than one micron. Traditional methods for determining their atomic structure, like X-ray crystallography, are often hampered by the difficulty in growing large MOF crystals. However, the electron-diffraction crystallography available in Denmark offers a solution, enabling analysis of sub-micron particles. “The electron-diffraction crystallography machinery in Denmark will help determine the atomic structures of MOFs, even if large crystals cannot be grown, because it enables crystal structure determination on sub-micron particles,” Shatruk stated. This approach is critical for realizing the potential of qubits, atomic-sized particles capable of representing multiple values simultaneously, and ultimately building more powerful quantum devices. Quantum technologies are poised to revolutionize many areas, including computing, drug development and medical sensing. FSU’s $20 Million Initiative in Quantum Science & Engineering Florida State University’s ambitious foray into quantum science is being spearheaded by chemist Michael Shatruk, recently awarded a 2025 Novo Nordisk Fellowship.
The Novo Nordisk fellowship complements a larger, internally funded initiative launched in 2023. This initiative seeks to not only discover new quantum phenomena but also translate those discoveries into practical quantum systems. Shatruk’s fellowship…is a testimony to FSU’s synergistic efforts.” The timing is particularly noteworthy, given the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for the discovery of MOFs, materials Shatruk is actively integrating into his quantum chip designs. Source: https://news.fsu.edu/news/science-technology/2026/02/17/fsu-chemist-lands-international-fellowship-to-advance-quantum-materials/ Tags: