Group Leader Laser and Optical Spectroscopy
Research School of Chemistry
(College of Physical Sciences)

1971 PhD University of Sydney 

1968 BSc (Hon) University of Sydney 

 

Professional Background

After completing his PhD in physical chemistry at the University of Sydney, Elmars pursued postdoctoral studies at Oxford (UK) and the University of Virginia (USA) before returning to Australia. He took up teaching positions at ANU and the University of Sydney and then returning to ANU in 1981 as a research fellow. He has remained at the Research School of Chemistry, building an interdisciplinary profile by enabling and developing strong links between physical and inorganic chemistry, solid state physics, biophysics and biochemistry.

 

Research and Teaching Interests

Optical spectroscopy broadly is the study of the interaction of light with matter and can also encompasses the chemical transformations induced by light. Elmars has a strong background in studying optical charge transfer processes in the condensed phase and over the last decade has concentrated on fundamental biophysical and biochemical processes in photosynthesis. His research and teaching now focus on ways in which sunlight can be used as a renewable energy source, particularly those mimicking the ways in which nature enables nearly all life on the planet through the miraculous process of photosynthesis.

 

Notable recent publications

 

E. Krausz, S. Peterson Årsköld,  "Identifying Redox-Active Chromophores in Photosystem II by Low Temperature Optical Spectroscopies"In Artificial Photosynthesis: From Basic Biology to Industrial Application. Collings, A.F., Critchley, C., Eds. Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA: Weinheim (2005), pp. 87-107.

 

E. Krausz. J. L. Hughes, P. J. Smith, R. J. Pace and S. Peterson Årsköld

"Assignment of the Low-Temperature Fluorescence in Oxygen-Evolving Photosystem II" Photosynthesis Research. 84(1-3) 193-199, (2005).

 

E. Krausz. J. L. Hughes, P. J. Smith, R. J. Pace and S. Peterson Årsköld

"Oxygen Evolving Photosystem II core complexes: A new paradigm based on the spectral identification of the charge separating state, the primary acceptor and assignment of low temperature fluorescence." Photochemical and Photobiological Sciences. 4(9) 744-753, (2005).

 

E. Krausz, J. Hughes "Electronic Spectroscopy" Encyclopedia of Inorganic Chemistry, Methods & Applications Handbook Robert A. Scott editor, Wiley (2007). Pp. 79-98.