Mikhail Kats wins ACS Photonics Young Investigator Lectureship Award

Mikhail Kats, the Jack St. Clair Kilby and Antoine-Bascom Professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is the recipient of the prestigious 2026 ACS Photonics Young Investigator Lectureship Award. The award, sponsored by the journal ACS Photonics, honors the contributions of an early-career individual doing outstanding work in the research areas covered by the publication.

In an editorial announcing the award, ACS Photonics editor-in-chief Romain Quidant, a professor at ETH Zurich, describes Kats’s career trajectory, beginning with his transformative doctoral work on optical metasurfaces, ultrathin film absorbers and plasmonics, which has “blossomed into an independent research program characterized by profound insights and innovative device concepts.”

That includes explorations into thermal-radiation engineering, tunable optics with phase-transition materials, anisotropic optical materials, and photonic components for quantum technologies. These and his many other projects bridge the fundamental principles of physics, materials science, and the practicalities of engineering to produce novel optical phenomena and new functional devices.

The award also cites Kats for leadership outside the lab, including the founding of the Photonics Online Meetup, as well as his work hosting workshops on skills like preparing for conferences, interacting with the media, and career mentoring.

“Kats’s exceptional contributions, spanning fundamental discoveries to innovative technological advancements and community leadership, make him a truly deserving recipient of the 2026 ACS Photonics Young Investigator Lectureship,” writes Quidant.