Kurtis Carsch
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
he/him/his
As a Hertz Fellow and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Kurtis conducted his Ph.D. research with Ted Betley at Harvard, where he focused on understanding amination catalysis by copper nitrene intermediates through the lens of inverted ligand fields, receiving the Hertz Thesis Prize for his research. Kurtis was then an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Decarbonization Materials at the University of California, Berkeley, with Jeff Long, where he established elementary organometallic transformations in the context of chemical separations and discovered the field of high-temperature adsorption.
As a Hertz Fellow and a NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Kurtis conducted his Ph.D. research with Ted Betley at Harvard, where he focused on understanding amination catalysis by copper nitrene intermediates through the lens of inverted ligand fields, receiving the Hertz Thesis Prize for his research. Kurtis was then an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Decarbonization Materials at the University of California, Berkeley, with Jeff Long, where he established elementary organometallic transformations in the context of chemical separations and discovered the field of high-temperature adsorption.
In January 2025, Kurtis returned back to the State of Texas to start his independent research program at The University of Texas at Austin within the Department of Chemistry. Outside of his research, Kurtis enjoys eating spicy foods, hiking in the mountains, and exploring the broader Texas Hill Country area.
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science Program, TAMS
Advisor – Prof. Thomas Cundari
Research – Computational Modeling of Methane Hydroxylation through Homogeneous Catalysis
Joint B.S./M.S. in Chemistry
Advisors – Profs. Bill Goddard and Theo Agapie
B.S./M.S. Research – Bio-Inspired Clusters Relevant to the Oxygen-Evolving Complex of Photosystem II
Hertz Fellow and NSF Graduate Research Fellow
Advisor – Prof. Ted Betley
Ph.D. Research – Ligand Field Inversion in Sterically Confined Copper Architectures
Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow
Advisor – Prof. Jeffrey R. Long
Postdoctoral Research – Organometallic Modifications of Porous Materials for Small Molecule Capture
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
International Adsorption Society Award for Excellence in Publications (2025)
2022 CAS Future Leader (2022)
Fannie and John Hertz Thesis Prize (2022)
Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellowship (2021)
Peter Strauss Fellowship – endowed fellowship by the Hertz Foundation (2021)
Ludo Frevel Crystallography Scholarship (2020)
Harvard Distinction in Teaching Award (2019)
2016 ACS Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry (2016)
Richard P. Schuster Memorial Prize (2016)
George W. Green Memorial Prize (2016)
Fannie and John Hertz Foundation Fellowship (2016)
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)
Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2015)
Arie J. Haagen-Smit Memorial Award (2015)
Copenhagen Scholars Study Abroad Scholarship (2014)
American Chemical Society/Society for Chemical Industry Scholarship (2014)
Renuka D. Sharma Award (2014)
Caltech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (2012)
Intel Science Talent Search Finalist (2012)
University of North Texas Dean’s Research Award (2011)
Texas Academy of Math and Science Summer Research Scholarship (2011)
Jasper High School Friendliest Freshman (2008)
Various Statewide Awards and Recognitions for Flute and Piccolo Performances
Email: kcarsch[at]utexas.edu
WeChat ID: KurtisCarsch_UT
Address: Norman Hackerman Building Suite 6.330, 100 E 24th St, Austin, TX 78712
