Songi Han, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of Chemical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara, has received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize from the Humboldt Foundation. Han is internationally known for her pioneering work in developing a novel technique for exploring surface water dynamics at biomolecular surfaces in solution. 

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation grants up to 20 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Awards annually to scientists and scholars who are not only internationally renowned in their fields but also expected to continue producing cutting-edge achievements that will have a seminal influence on their disciplines beyond their immediate fields of work. Each winner receives a stipend of 45,000 Euros (approximately $50,000).