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Princeton funds Indian-origin researcher’s ultrafast microscope project
The proposed instrument could have applications in technologies including solar cells, computing and data storage devices, and batteries.
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Pranavi Sharma - Sun, 17, May 2026
- 01:11 EDT
- 19
Aditya Sood / Princeton University
Aditya Sood, an Indian-origin researcher and Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur alumnus, is among eight recipients of the 2026 Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund awards at Princeton University, where his team is developing an ultrafast microscope designed to study the movement of charge, heat and matter in nanomaterials.
The awards, announced May 12 by Princeton’s Office of the Dean for Research, mark the largest number of annual projects funded in the program’s history. The initiative supports research projects aimed at creating new technologies and advancing scientific understanding across engineering and the natural sciences.
Sood, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Princeton Materials Institute, is collaborating with Barry Rand, professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, on the project titled ‘Developing an ultrafast microscope.’
According to Princeton, the research team plans to build a “novel dynamic microscope” capable of capturing short-lived processes in nanomaterials at ultrafast timescales. The project seeks to combine ultrafast science, bioimaging and non-linear optics to create a multimodal imaging platform that can visualize the movement of electrons, heat and ions within operating devices.
The proposed instrument could have applications in technologies including solar cells, computing and data storage devices, and batteries.
“The research teams supported through the Schmidt fund this year are poised to create powerful new research tools and to use AI and machine learning to accelerate discovery,” said Princeton University Dean for Research Peter Schiffer.
ALSO READ: Princeton student Jaisnav Rajesh wins Spirit of Princeton
“The fund enables researchers across disciplines to take big swings, advance ambitious and exciting research, and even build new fields that benefit society,” Schiffer added.
The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund was established in 2009 through a gift from Eric and Wendy Schmidt. The fund supports projects intended to produce disruptive technologies, new research equipment or methods that could significantly change scientific research capabilities.
Sood joined the Princeton faculty in January 2023. His research focuses on nanoscale thermal transport, nanoelectronics and ultrafast science, with an emphasis on understanding how materials behave under external stimuli on fast timescales.
His work explores questions related to controlling heat flow at the atomic scale, imaging transient states in electronic devices and modulating ion transport in energy-storage materials. His group also collaborates with national laboratories using advanced electron and X-ray research facilities.
Before joining Princeton, Sood earned a doctorate in materials science and engineering from Stanford University and completed research appointments at the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.
Sood has previously received several honors, including the ACS PRF Doctoral New Investigator Award in 2023 and Princeton Engineering’s Commendation for Outstanding Teaching in 2023.
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