Professor Schatz’ research involves theory and computation as applies to problems in nanotechnology, properties of materials, macromolecular structures and dynamics, molecular self-assembly, optics, materials physics and biophysics. His research group is also interested in electronic structure methods, in quantum and classical theories of dynamical processes, and in using these methods to study the reactions of molecules at interfaces.

Major areas of interest are:

• The optical properties of metal nanoparticles and aggregates of nanoparticles, including applications in extinction and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, Rayleigh scattering and a variety of nonlinear optical properties.
• The properties of nanostructured materials, especially as pertains to metal nanoparticles that are linked by polymers such as DNA or peptides.
• The mechanical properties of materials, particularly concerning the properties of carbon-containing materials such as carbon nanotubes, graphene and diamond. He is also interested in mechanically bistable molecules, and their use in molecular machines.
• Chemical processes that take place under nonthermal conditions, especially processes that take place at surfaces.