Nov. 15 — Jan Liphardt of the Physics Department and Rachel Seagalman of the Chemical Engineering Department are among the winners of the first MDV Innovators Award. Both UC Berkeley recipients are also researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

An experimental biophysicist and assistant professor of physics, Liphartdt was recognized for his work in the areas of photosynthesis, synthetic biology, photonics, and single-molecule biophysics.

The award, presented by MDV-Mohr Davidow Ventures, a major venture capital firm in Menlo Park, recognizes extraordinary faculty early in their careers for their innovative approaches to major scientific and technical challenges in energy and materials. The winners receive $75,000 for one year to pilot a new, high-risk project with potential to impact current thinking in their field. Faculty from UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley Labs, and Stanford University were nominated.

“We recognize the difficulty faculty can have, particularly early in their careers, in gaining funding for high-risk, unproven projects,” said KT Moortgat of MDV. “The award aims to enable new possibilities for these extraordinary faculty innovators.”

Liphardt joined UC Berkeley’s Physics faculty in 2004. He holds a B.A. degree from Reed College and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University.