This $650,000 National Science Foundation project grant, funded through the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), supports research into lanthanide complexes displaying upconversion emission. Principal Investigator Anne E.V. Gordon of Texas Tech University will collaborate with Ana De Bettencourt-Dias of the University of Nevada, Reno and Jorge Monteiro of California Polytechnic State University, Humboldt to develop new lanthanide complexes with the potential for efficient upconversion emission in both solid and liquid states. The researchers aim to establish parameters for upconversion emission in solution and tune the properties of lanthanide complexes for improved solubility, biocompatibility and photophysical characteristics. The goal is to enable applications as new luminescent probes for bioimaging of cells in real time without high-energy radiation. The work seeks to advance understanding of structure-luminescence relationships and guide design of effective probes for biological imaging applications.