UConn Physics Undergraduate Awarded Plasmonic Reactor Systems – UConn Summer Fellowship
Storrs, CT — The Department of Physics at the University of Connecticut is pleased to announce that Hilton Chanthakhyly, a rising fourth-year undergraduate, has been awarded the Plasmonic Reactor Systems (PRS)-UConn Summer Fellowship, sponsored by PRS, Inc. The fellowship will support Hilton’s contributions to PRS’s ongoing research and development efforts in laser-driven nuclear energy, giving him […]
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Freshman Physics Major Alex Yi selected for CEU Conference in Philadelphia!
UConn Physics undergraduate Alex Yi has been selected to participate in the Conference Experience for Undergraduates (CEU), where he will present a poster on research carried out in the Bhattacharya Nuclear Theory Group. Alex joined the group in Spring 2026 and continued his research intensively throughout the summer as a recipient of the Mark Miller […]
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Women in Science Leadership Award for Prof. Tandoğan!
Dr. Aslı Tandoğan, Assistant Professor in Residence at UConn’s Hartford Campus, was awarded the 2026 Petit Family Foundation Women in Science Leadership Award of the Connecticut Science Center for her “innovative teaching methods, mentorship, and community outreach”. The Award Ceremony is an important fundraiser, and if you would like to join Aslı in the celebrations and support […]
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Congratulations to Prof. Filip Bergabo!
Filip Bergabo is Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Physics at the Jacksonville University. After graduation with a B.Sc. in physics with Summa Cum Laude from UConn in May 2017, Filip earned his PhD under Prof. Jalilian-Marian in theoretical particle physics working on the quark-gluon structure of the proton in QCD at the Baruch College in Manhattan […]
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UConn STARs Brings Physics to Hartford Public High School
The UConn STARs program has been visiting local Hartford public schools every Spring since 2022, bringing physics demos and enthusiasm directly to Hartford students! In 2026, as part of the UConn STARs program, 18 UConn undergraduate students visited Hartford Public High School (HPHS) over the course of the week of May 18-22, 2026. These students […]
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Professor Moshe Gai has been named Fulbright Specialist for the 2026-29 tenure
UConn Faculty Named Fulbright Scholars and Specialists Moshe Gai, a professor of physics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will look to research in Romania with fellow colleagues. This program will be an extension of his 2025 Fulbright U.S. Scholar award. During the spring semester of 2025, he spent five months at the […]
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Professor Federico Capasso, Katzenstein Distinguished Lecturer
The University of Connecticut, Department of Physics, is proud to announce the 28th Annual Katzenstein Distinguished Lecturer on Friday, October 16, 2026, by Professor Federico Capasso. Federico Capasso is Robert L. Wallace Professor of Applied Physics and Vinton Hayes Senior Research Fellow in Electrical Engineering at Harvard University. He received the Doctor of Physics degree, […]
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Grad Student Kelcey Davis featured in UConn Today
UConn Physics PhD student Kelcey Davis was featured in a UConn Today article to highlight a new experiment she was awarded on the James Webb Space Telescope. Kelcey’s research focuses on distant galaxies and black holes, and her new space telescope observations will offer a rich new view of the detailed physics of the first […]
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Research of Professor Simone Colombo featured in UConn Today
When gases are cooled to temperatures approaching absolute zero, their atoms reach their lowest energy state, creating what is known as a quantum degenerate state. These gases are of interest for quantum sensors because they exhibit higher sensitivity to electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields compared to atoms at higher temperatures. Researchers are developing quantum sensors […]
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Professor Pablo Jarillo-Herrero, Katzenstein Distinguished Lecturer
The University of Connecticut, Department of Physics, is proud to announce the 27th Annual Katzenstein Distinguished Lecturer on Friday, January 30th , 2026 by Professor Pablo Jarillo-Herrero. Pablo Jarillo-Herrero is a Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He […]
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In Memoriam: William C. Stwalley
We are saddened to share that William (Bill) Stwalley, professor emeritus and former head of the Department of Physics, passed away on Oct. 7, 2025, in Minneapolis, surrounded by his loving family. Bill joined the University of Connecticut in 1993 and led the department with distinction until 2011. He retired in 2016 as a Board […]
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Professor Vladan Vuletić, Pollack Distinguished Lecturer
The University of Connecticut, Department of Physics is proud to announce Edward Pollack Distinguished Lecture will be on Friday, November 7th, 2025. The speaker is Prof. Vladan Vuletić, Department of Physics, MIT. The title of his lecture is “The Quantum Age: From Atomic Clocks to Quantum Computers” For the time and the location of the […]
[Read More]Annual UConn Queer Science Conference
Professor Menka Jain’s two PhD students, Jacob Pfund and Zachary Ritchey, assisted with planning and organizing the fourth annual UConn Queer Science Conference on June 8th 2025. With activities such as brain dissections, fly genetics demos, and pathobiology lab tours, the participating high school students learn about a cross-section of different scientific disciplines throughout the […]
[Read More]Physics Teaching Lab at UConn Stamford Campus Gets an Upgrade
This summer, thanks to $25,000 in funds from CLAS we have made some major improvements to the lab equipment and organization here in Stamford. Since well before I started as an adjunct professor at Stamford in 2018, the lab storage closet has been filled with a jumbled pile of outdated equipment. Much of the equipment […]
[Read More]Lab tours for women in Science, Math, and Engineering
Prof. Menka Jain and her group hosted ~35 WiMSE students from UConn Storrs arranged by the Women in Math, Science and Engineering Learning Community. The goal of such lab tours is to provide female undergraduate students with a first-hand knowledge at the dynamic and impactful work being conducted at UConn in STEM fields, helping to […]
[Read More]Professor Gai’s Five Months Fulbright Stint, Spring 2025
Professor Gai completed in May 2025, a five-month Fulbright stint in Bucharest Romania. During this visit he collaborated on research at the new EU world highest power (10 PW) laser lab, the Extreme Light Infrastructure Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP), in Magurele near Bucharest. He taught a graduate class at the ELI-NP on “Physical Concepts of Stellar […]
[Read More]2024-2025 Physics PhDs
James Andrew Casey-Clyde Advisor: Chiara Mingarelli Thesis: “Multi-Messenger Constraints on Supermassive Black Hole Binaries” Provakar Datta Advisor: Andrew Puckett Thesis: “Precision Measurements of the Neutron Magnetic Form Factor to High Momentum Transfer using Durand’s Method” Megan Davis Advisor: Jonathan Trump Thesis: “Timing is Everything: Single and Binary Quasars in Massive Time-Domain Surveys” Logan Fries Advisor: […]
[Read More]UConn Honorary Degree Awarded to Alumnus, Manasse Mbonye, PhD 1996
Manasse Mbonye (UConn Physics PhD 1996, Advisor: Ron Mallett) was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree, and was the Commencement Speaker at the UConn Commencement ceremony in Gampel Pavilion on May 12, 2025. Manasse has had a remarkable career in physics, politics and scientific administration since completing his PhD in Physics at UConn in […]
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Department Head greeting
Dear Friends of UConn Physics, While I look forward to sharing the news and accomplishments of the Physics Department over the past year, I can’t help but say that one word keeps coming to mind: turbulent. There is no getting around the fact that at the university, state, and federal levels, things have been changing […]
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In Memoriam: Professor Winthrop Smith, 1936-2025
Sadly, Prof. Emeritus Winthrop W. Smith passed away in Peabody, MA on April 7, 2025, with his devoted daughter Sarah by his side. After growing up in New Jersey, Win received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in physics from Amherst and MIT, respectively, and then undertook postdoctoral work at the Joint Institute of Laboratory Astrophysics […]
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