From UVAToday:

NSF’s Early Career Development Program supports junior faculty who perform outstanding research, are excellent educators and integrate education and research into their academic activities. The five-year grants are among the most prestigious available to young faculty in science and engineering fields, and are designed to provide significant resources to the early-stage development of careers.

Chatterjee is a condensed matter physicist who investigates quantum-phase transitions in non-thermal parameters, such as pressure, electric or magnetic field. His $528,507 grant will allow him to develop experimental techniques for studying such phase transitions in transition metal dichalcogenides, which have diverse technological applications ranging from energy harvesting to new-generation sensors.

For more, see:

http://news.virginia.edu/content/physicist-and-astronomer-garner-nsf-career-awards