This month’s graduate student spotlight features Jakub Husek. He is originally from the Czech Republic but came to the US as a 15 year old high school student and never left; his study abroad program has extended over the last 10 years. The rest of his family is still at home, so he says he sees himself as the lone ranger over here. After Jakub finished high school, he started school at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, PA where he studied Chemistry. He describes Susquehanna as a teeny tiny liberal arts college where the entire student body of (~2200) is less than the number of students taking General Chemistry at OSU (~4500).

When it was time to begin thinking about graduate school, Jakub was looking for a school where resources were abundant and widely available. Now in his third year, he has found that the most amazing part about OSU has been that nothing is off limits. If he needs to use a specific instrument for experiments, the department either has it here or knows how to access it. Although that might not sound like a big deal, in fact it has been an incredible advantage because students can do nearly anything; as a scientist, this is of great value. He has also found himself impressed by the faculty here due to the fact that they are not only great researchers themselves, but many of them are great mentors and educators.

So what has Jakub been doing at OSU with all of this equipment access? As a current member of Robert Baker’s group, he is working on developing a soft x-ray spectrometer in their lab. This tool is essentially a mini synchrotron that allows scientists to look at electrons in real time as they move through a material and use this information to determine what processes are occurring in a given material. The advantage of using this instrument is that not only is it fast enough to catch the motion of the electrons, but they can also follow it with chemical state resolution – can differentiate the element, its spin and oxidation state, and even its geometry. So far, Jakub states that their group has been working with first row transition metal oxides, in particular with iron oxide. The overarching theme of their research is to link catalytic selectivity and electronic structure of the catalysts. If they are able to understand the processes that are occurring within the catalysts, then they can develop new, more efficient materials.

Not only has the lab itself been a great advantage, but the people inside of it have made it that much better; Jakub points to Dr. Robert Baker in particular the most.  He explains, “We started at OSU at the same time, and he entrusted me with building this one of a kind instrument even though I had zero experience with any of the parts. His guidance, enthusiasm, and continuous support were unbelievable.” Jakub also added that he admires Dr. Baker’s ability to always see the positive side and keep his head leveled. As he always says when things go wrong: “You are not in trouble until you run out of ideas.” Outside of the lab, another person he admires in the department is Ben Garrett, a member of Professor Wu’s group. Jakub met Ben during his visitation weekend, and became friends almost instantly. Jakub says he has been a great mentor to him and continues to inspire him. He adds, “Ben is a great combination of a hard working student who also remembers that there are other aspects of one’s life besides the lab.”

Even with all this support, graduate school can still be a challenging place. Jakub found that in the first year, the most difficult thing is to not get overwhelmed. People are taking two or three classes, teaching a full load, and trying to find a research group or even continue research from the summer. It is very easy to feel overwhelmed and discouraged. But Jakub notes that it is important to realize that everyone goes through the same emotions at one point or another during graduate school, and to remember not to give in. He has learned that the support network at OSU is fantastic and it is important to reach out and get through the craziness with some of your peers together. And it does get easier; once you get through the first year and the oral exam, you will gain a different perspective and become a more confident student.

All of this hard work has paid off though. Jakub says that in terms of hard skills, he has learned a ton about lasers, vacuum technology, and other aspects that go into building a cutting-edge instrument. He adds, “Those skills will stay with me wherever I go, and I value those greatly.” He has also learned a lot in terms of soft skills, saying “I have learned that time management and task management are incredibly useful. Time is precious in graduate school and it’s important to use it as efficiently as possible.”

These experiences and skills will come in handy once Jakub graduates and pursues his goal of working in industry. Jakub is interested in bridging the gap between the people who do all the science and understand it well, but cannot effectively “sell it,” and those who can promote the science, but know nothing about it. He hopes to tie in some of his interest when he works in industry, specifically his fascination with the laser world; ultrashort laser pulses are the shortest things ever created by humans. How neat! He explains he would like to stay in the world of light source development in order to see how far we can push the limits. Another one of his goals after graduation is to work on problems and things that will affect ordinary people around the world. He stated, “If we truly understand how a battery works and we develop one that allows you to charge your phone once a month, that’s amazing. I want to work in a place that makes a difference.”

Jakub’s desire to use his degree to help others has already extended beyond the world of industry though. He recently visited his undergraduate institution to give a lecture on what the Chemistry Department does here at Ohio State. While there, he also met with students before the lecture in an informal setting to talk to them about graduate school life. Jakub says he hopes his lecture inspired some of them to pursue a career in the sciences! He says it was great being able to give back to the university by engaging the students and showing them that even though Susquehanna is a small school, the students there can go to big universities and do well for themselves.

His emphasis on helping others extends outside of the lab as well. As a fellow hockey player, Jakub admires Jaromir Jagr, the most famous Czech ice hockey player. He says he admires him so because Jagr understands that world renowned athletes are constantly in the middle of attention from all around them and what they do affects others. Jagr has been an incredible role model to younger generations providing valuable life lessons. Despite being so rich and famous, Jakub notes that he takes the time to be a great role model for the people around him, and to him, that’s extremely admirable. With this dedication to others, we have no doubt some great things are in Jakub’s future!