UConn Physics Professor elected to AAAS
UConn physics professor Nora Berrah has been elected to the historic and prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This year, more than 200 individuals were elected to the academy with compelling achievements in academia, business, government, and public affairs. Berrah, who was head of the physics department from 2014 to 2018, has been recognized […]
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UConn Astronomers React to First Photo of a Black Hole
This image is the first ever taken of a black hole, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) project. The black center is a direct view of the event horizon of a supermassive black hole with a mass of 6.5 billion times the Sun, lying at the center of the Virgo cluster of galaxies. The bright ring is emission from hot gas just above the event horizon, with an asymmetric shape caused by gravitational lensing of light in the strong gravity of the black hole. The EHT collaboration captured the image using a network of 8 radio telescopes that spanned the Earth.
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2 for the price of 1: UConn researcher finds new mechanism making double ionization an efficient process
An international research team headed by Dr. Aaron LaForge from the research group of Prof. Nora Berrah in the Physics department at UConn has recently discovered a new type of decay mechanism leading to highly efficient double ionization in weakly-bound systems. The team has published its results in the science journal “Nature Physics”. Ionization is […]
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Kate Whitaker wins the Sloan Fellowship!
Original UConn Today article here Rising Star in Astrophysics Receives Sloan Foundation Fellowship February 19, 2019 – Jessica McBride – Office of the Vice President for Research Kate Whitaker, assistant professor of physics, stands next to a telescope inside the observatory on top of the Gant Complex on Feb. 14, 2019. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo) As […]
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Goodwin School 3rd grade visits the Physics Learning Labs
About one mile from the Gant plaza, Goodwin Elementary School teaches some really bright kids. On January 15, 2019, science teacher Nancy Titchen and Goodwin teachers brought the entire 3rd grade class on a field trip to the Physics Learning Labs mock-up studio for some science fun. Students enjoyed a liquid nitrogen show, witnessed quantum […]
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Nora Berrah Named 2018 AAAS Fellow
Physics professor Nora Berrah has been named a 2018 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Prof. Berrah has been recognized for her distinguished contributions to the field of molecular dynamics, particularly for pioneering non-linear science using x-ray lasers and spectroscopy using synchrotron light sources. View full story on CLAS website.
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Hands-On Approach to Physics
Step into a fall 2018 class section of PHYS 1602: Fundamentals of Physics II, and you’ll find a scene that’s far from the large introductory science lectures common on most college campuses. Anna Regan ’21 (CLAS) utilizes a whiteboard to try out solutions during her group’s problem-solving tutorial. (Bri Diaz/UConn Photo) To start, the class […]
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Faculty Profile: UConn Astrophysicist Cara Battersby
A young Cara Battersby once scrawled out the phrase “Science is curious” in a school project about what she wanted to do when she grew up.
This simple phrase still captures Battersby’s outlook on her research about our universe.
Recently shortlisted for the 2018 Nature Research Inspiring Science Award, Battersby has been working on several projects aimed at unfolding some of the most compelling mysteries of galaxies near and far.
“I’m really interested in how stars are born,” Battersby says. “They’re the source of all life on Earth.”
Battersby is leading an international team of over 20 scientists to map the center of the Milky Way Galaxy using the Submillimeter Array in Hawaii, in a large survey called CMZoom. She was recently awarded a National Science Foundation grant to follow-up on this survey and create a 3D computer modeled map of the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.
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Welcoming Barrett Wells as new department head
In August 2018, Professor Barrett Wells entered as the new head of the Physics department, following Professor Nora Berrah. Barrett is an experimental condensed matter physicists with a robust research program involved in both synthesis and advanced experimentation around novel phases of quantum materials. Barrett brings to the department strong administrative talent, having served […]
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UConn Physics major wins national recognition for research
Connor Occhialini – Finalist 2018 LeRoy Apker Undergraduate Achievements Award by Jason Hancock One of our star undergraduates, Connor Occhialini, has won national recognition as a finalist in the 2018 LeRoy Apker Undergraduate Achievements Award competition for his research in the UConn Physics department. The honor and distinction is awarded not only for the excellent […]
[Read More]Search for teaching laboratory technicians
Laboratory Technician II (UCP 4) Department of Physics College of Liberal Arts and Sciences University of Connecticut The Department of Physics seeks 2 dynamic and energetic applicants to join its teaching laboratory team. The Department is undergoing a deep renovation of teaching pedagogy in large-scale learning labs with full support of the University. The successful […]
[Read More]Postdoctoral Research Associate: Galactic Center, Star Formation, ISM, numerical or observational
University of Connecticut, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Physics Department Postdoctoral Research Associate: Galactic Center, Star Formation, ISM, numerical or observational Job Summary: Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to join Prof. Cara Battersby’s research group in the Astrophysics Program at the University of Connecticut. The successful candidate will work closely with the group […]
[Read More]Postdoctoral Research Associate: Galaxy Formation and Evolution
University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Physics Department Postdoctoral Research Associate: Galaxy Formation and Evolution Applications are invited for a postdoctoral research position in extragalactic astronomy at the University of Connecticut in collaboration with Professor Kate Whitaker. The successful candidate will focus on the analysis, interpretation and modeling of space-based multi-wavelength data […]
[Read More]Tenure-track faculty position in Astrophysics at UConn/CCA
University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Physics Assistant Professor in Astrophysics The Department of Physics at the University of Connecticut invites applications for a tenure-track position in Astrophysics at the rank of Assistant Professor with an anticipated start date of August 23, 2019. This is an open search with a […]
[Read More]Open Search: Faculty position (APIR)
University of Connecticut College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Department of Physics Assistant Professor In-Residence (Storrs Campus) The Department of Physics at the University of Connecticut invites applications for positions at the rank of Assistant Professor in Residence with an anticipated start date of August 23, 2019. Two positions will be filled at the UConn […]
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Physics Nobel prize 2018
The Physics Nobel prize in 2018 was awarded to Gérard Mourou (École Polytechnique, Université Paris-Saclay), Arthur Ashkin (Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies), and Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo) for ground-breaking inventions in the field of laser physics.
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Workshop ‘Dynamic Quantum Matter’ organized by UConn faculty
Dynamic Quantum Matter, Entangled orders and Quantum Criticality Workshop, June 18- June 19, 2018, sponsored by UConn, NSF, Nordita, Villum Center for Dirac Materials, Institute for Materials Science. The conference focused on entangled and non-equilibrium orders in quantum materials.
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Physics undergrad is the recipient of 2018 Mark Miller research award
Physics major Brenna Robertson has been selected as the recipient of the 2018 Mark Miller Undergraduate Research Award. Brenna’s proposal, which focuses on modeling supermassive black hole spin using spectral emission diagrams, was selected from among a strong pool of applicants. Brenna Robertson is working with Prof. Jonathan Trump. The Mark Miller Award is a […]
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NASA awards to two physics undergraduate students
Undergraduate Physics Majors, Sam Cutler and Anthony (Josh) Machado, recently received awards from the NASA Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. Sam was awarded an Undergraduate Research Fellowship to perform research at UConn this summer working with Prof. Kate Whitaker. The title of his research project is “Examining High Redshift Rotation Curve Outside the Local Universe”. Josh […]
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Annual Research Poster Day
The Physics Department Graduate Student Association, in collaboration with the faculty, organized the Annual Research Poster Day which was held this year on March 23, 2018. About 15 students presented their research in a poster presentation. Awards were presented to graduate students Erin Curry and Martin Disla, and an undergraduate student Sadhana Suresh.
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Dr. Sarah Wellons, CIERA Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University, "Wild and Crazy Kids: Simulating Galaxy Formation in the Early Universe", Astronomy Seminar12:15pm4/24
Prof. Jordy de Vries, University of Massachusetts Amherst, "Neutrinoless double beta decay in effective field theory", Particle, Astrophysics, and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm4/22
Women in Physics Colloquium3:30pm4/19
Prof. George Gibson, High-Intensity Laser Physics Group, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Exploring EXTREME Nonlinear Physics and Quantum Molecular Dynamics with High-Intensity Laser Pulses ", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm4/19Dr. Yu-Sheng Liu, Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai , "First Principle Calculation of PDFs from LaMET", Particle, Astrophysics, and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm4/15
Edward Pollack Distinguished Lecture , Pollack Distinguished Lecture3:30pm4/12Prof. Menka Jain, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Interests in Multiferroics and Other Functional Materials", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm4/12Prof. Carlos Trallero, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Your job most likely won't be in academia: Transferring your skills to industry", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm4/5Prof. Ben Heidenreich, University of Massachusetts Amherst, "Quantum gravity and the swampland", Particle, Astrophysics, and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm4/1Prof. Beth Parks, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Colgate University, "Air Quality Measurements in Uganda ", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Beth Parks, Colgate University)3:30pm3/29Prof. Boris Sinkovic, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "Topological Insulators, New Paradigm for Quantum Electronics", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm3/29The talk has been rescheduled for April 22, RESCHEDULED: Particle, Astrophysics, and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm3/18Dr. Andrew Millis, Center for Computational Quantum Physics, The Flatiron Institute and Department of Physics, Columbia University, "Meeting Dirac's Challenge: From Quantum Entanglement to Materials Theory", Charles Reynolds Distinguished Lecture3:30pm3/15Prof. Alan Wuosmaa, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "The Structure of "Exotic" Nuclei", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm3/15
Dr. Adam Summers, Department of Physics, Kansas State University, "Ultrafast, Strong-Field Investigation of Nanosystems", Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar1:30pm3/14
Multimodal Spectroscopies of Correlated Materials" Dr Ilya Drozdov, Brookhaven National Laboratory , Condensed Matter Physics Seminar2:00pm3/13Dr. Catherine Kealhofer, Department of Physics, Williams College, "Generating and controlling ultrafast electron pulses for time-resolved electron diffraction", Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar3:30pm3/11Prof. Stephen Pate, New Mexico State University, "Exploring the Axial Structure of the Nucleon", Physics Colloquium (Professor Stephen Pate, NMSU)3:30pm3/8Prof. Robin Cote, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, "AMO Theory at UConn: Ultracold Physics", Graduate Student Seminar12:15pm3/8Prof. Zohreh Davoudi, University of Maryland., "Towards analog and digital quantum simulations of strongly-interacting dynamics", Particle, Astrophysics, and Nuclear Physics Seminar2:00pm3/4Prof. Philip Mannheim, University of Connecticut, "Title: Is dark matter fact or fantasy -- clues from the data", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Philip Mannheim)3:30pm3/1Dr. Vladimir Juricic, Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics, "Interacting spin-1/2 and spin-3/2 nodal fermions: Quantum criticality and transport", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar2:30pm3/1Prof. Michael Lubell, CCNY, "Navigating the Maze. How Science and Technology Policy Shape America and the World", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Michael Lubell, CCNY)3:30pm2/22Dr. Elisa Chisari, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, "Cosmology with weak gravitational lensing: challenges and opportunities", Astronomy Seminar12:30pm2/22Alexey Onufriev, Departments of Computer Science and Physics, Virginia Tech, "The nucleosome: from structure to function through physics", Condensed Matter Physics Seminar3:30pm2/19Dr. Alexander Khaetskii Department of Physics, University at Buffalo, SUNY and Department of Physics, UConn, Condensed Matter Physics Seminar2:00pm2/19Dr. Adrian Price-Whelan, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, "The Milky Way as a benchmark: using surveys of our Galaxy to inform fundamental astrophysics", Astronomy Seminar12:30pm2/15Dr. Sarah Ballard, MIT Kavli Institute, "Lifetimes of Planetary Systems around Small Stars", Astronomy Seminar12:30pm2/13Prof. Lee Roberts, Boston University, "Searching for Physics Beyond the Standard Model with the World's Largest Penning Trap", Physics Colloquium (Prof. Lee Roberts, Boston University)3:30pm2/8Dr. Daniel Angles-Alcazar, Center for Computational Astrophysics, Flatiron Institute, "Multi-scale physical modeling in galaxy formation and evolution", Astronomy Seminar12:30pm2/8Dr. Massimo Gaspari, Department of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University, "Raining on Galaxies and Black Holes: Unifying the Micro and Macro Properties of AGN Feeding and Feedback", Astronomy Seminar12:30pm2/6Ben Augenbraun, Harvard University, "Laser-cooled polyatomic molecules for improved precision measurements", Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics Seminar2:00pm2/5