Human Frontier Science Program provides funding of 900,000
US Dollars in support of international collaboration on photosynthesis.
Photosynthetic water-oxidation is one of the central
processes of life on Earth but remains incompletely understood. Now, a
German-American team of scientists has set out to observe the intermediate
stages of this complex catalytic reaction using ultrashort snap shots taken at
light sources including BESSY II in Berlin and the Linac Coherent Light Source
at Stanford. To support their efforts, the Human Frontier Science Program has
now pledged funding of approximately 900,000 US Dollars for a total three-year
period. The team includes HZB physicist Dr. Philippe Wernet, chemist Prof. Dr.
Athina Zouni of Humboldt University of Berlin, Dr. Uwe Bergmann of the SLAC
National Accelerator Laboratory and Dr. Junko Yano of the Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory, who is in charge of the project.