Demir joins ACS Rising Stars

In the latest constellation of ACS Rising Stars, you’ll find Spartan researcher Selvan Demir and her pioneering inorganic chemistry. 

Demir, an assistant professor in MSU’s College of Natural Science, joins this year’s cohort of ten exceptional women chemists being recognized for outstanding scientific excellence and the promise of future contributions to their fields.  

Demir was selected for her Rising Star Award by the ACS’s Women Chemists Committee, and will join other awardees at the ACS Spring 2025 Rising Star Award Symposium. 

Demir’s Rising Star status is just the latest recognition for her lab’s breakthrough science – work that seeks to synthesize new molecular compounds with fascinating magnetic properties. 

With applications in high-density information storage and quantum computing, Demir has received a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship, as well as the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 

In addition to honoring cutting-edge science, the latest Rising Star Award highlights the Demir Group’s ongoing mission to blend art and science in the name of scientific outreach. 

From ocean floors and erupting volcanoes to futuristic cities and desert oases, the Demir Group is working to translate their complex chemistry into vibrant, eye-catching visualizations that draw in scientists and non-scientists alike. 

“We’re molecule makers, and molecules have certain symmetries that can be very beautiful,” Demir said. “If I want to talk to someone who doesn’t know much about our science, I can use our results artistically.” 

Using the 3D rendering program Blender, Demir, her group members and their science have been featured on eighteen journal covers and counting. These complex illustrations seamlessly weave a paper's findings into a visual tableau, transforming a technical details into starting point for scientific conversation.

As part of a recent NSF CAREER Award, Demir is currently working to bring this artwork into the public sphere through public exhibitions at museums.

"This will give us the power to explain our science through art," Demir said. "Hopefully this will attract more participation and interest in STEM fields."