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Innovative research done in the desert at ambient temperatures of 110° Fahrenheit – this is possible at the Arizona State University (ASU) in the Phoenix metropolitan area, also called the Valley of the Sun. With special thanks to the cfaed Inspire Grants Program I was able to join Hao Yan’s lab at the Biodesign Institute of ASU to experience three months of innovative research, getting to know different cultures, and exploring Arizona’s world-famous natural monuments. These include the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, the Painted Desert, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and many more.

Hao Yan’s lab is one of the leading groups in the field of DNA nanotechnology and it was a great pleasure and honor for me to conduct research on switchable DNA platforms together with these scientists and in such a well-equipped and modern laboratory. The work focused on the development of a DNA template structure for the assembly of gold nanoparticles towards plasmonic waveguides that comprise of a switchable unit to study the actual plasmon transport. In this way the work contributes to the understanding and development of self-assembled nanostructures for future electronic or photonic elements investigated in the Biomolecular-Assembled Circuits path of cfaed. I am very thankful for the support and funding by the Cluster.