Kurtis Carsch Named a Beckman Young Investigator

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation announced Kurtis Carsch, an assistant professor of chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, is one of 12 researchers nationwide selected for the 2026 class of Beckman Young Investigators. Beckman Young Investigators are chosen from U.S. colleges and universities by the foundation because they “exemplify… the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences.” 

Awards are intended to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open new avenues of research in science. The award for Carsch will support a project that aims to develop innovative biomimetic metal-organic membranes for a range of chemically driven separations, which could lead to new advances in materials science.

Faculty who win the prestigious award are selected by a panel of scientific experts, from a pool of several hundred applicants. 

Carsch previously won another prestigious award from the same foundation, having conducted research at the University of California, Berkeley as an Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow. As a graduate student, he was a Hertz Fellow and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at Harvard University. Prior to that, Carsch completed a joint B.S./M.S. in chemistry at Caltech. He joined the UT faculty in early 2025 and is a part of the Texas Materials Institute.

Adapted from an announcement by the Beckman Foundation.