PAS in Spotlight History
Ketevan Kotorashvili receives Tsinandali Award in Natural Sciences
Rochester physics and astronomy graduate student awarded national prize
Chris Marshall receives DOE Early Career Research award
Christopher Marshall, an assistant professor in the University of Rochester’s Department of Physics and Astronomy, has been named a recipient of an Early Career Research award from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to continue his work studying tiny subatomic particles called neutrinos. The award is designed to bolster the nation’s scientific workforce by providing support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years, when many scientists do their most formative work.
Kelly Douglass gives an interview about AAS Journal article on cosmic voids
Kelly Douglass (University of Rochester) chats about her AAS Journal article on voids, and where we can go from here given the published article.
Life of a Cosmology Graduate Student: Zackery Brown
Growing up, I never imagined that I’d become a physicist. I always enjoyed my physics classes, but was convinced that I’d study engineering in college. Yet as a high school senior, I took an electricity and magnetism course that really caught my attention. And as it happened, I attended a small liberal arts college without an engineering program. I made the decision to major in physics instead.
USRA Establishes the Judith L. Pipher Memorial Scholarship Award
Columbia, MD—June 27, 2022. Universities Space Research Association (USRA) proudly announces the addition of a new award—the Judith L. Pipher Memorial Scholarship Award—to honor the memory of Dr. Judith L. Pipher. With the establishment of this new award, USRA will now routinely offer five Distinguished Undergraduate Award scholarships.
NASA Approves Asteroid Hunting Space Telescope to Continue Development
University of Rochester scientists Judith Pipher, William Forrest and Craig McMurty have developed the infrared sensors that are expected to be deployed as part of this mission, which uses a space-based telescope to search for hazardous asteroids and comets within Earth's vicinity.
2020-2021 Graduate Fellowship Winners
Congratulations to our 2020-21 Graduate Fellowship Winners!
Ryan Rygg Elected APS Fellow
Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Rygg, Assistant Professor (Research) of Mechanical Engineering and Physics, on being elected as a Fellow by the American Physical Society (APS)!
USRA Announces the 2019 Distinguished Undergraduate Award Winners
Natalie Allen '20 has been awarded the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) Distinguished Undergraduate Award.
U of R physics department investigates juiced baseballs
UR Physics Graduate students J.J. Ruby and Esteban Wright use physics to investigate 'juiced' baseballs and their effect on the homerun averages for the Rochester Red Wings.
Carla Watson Awarded NSF Fellowship
Congratulations to Carla Watson, a PhD student working as a condensed matter physics research assistant with Professor Stephen Wu. Carla has been awarded the 2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship. She is finishing up her second year with the department of Physics and Astronomy and also serves on the executive board of our physics and astronomy student association (PASSAGE).
HIRMES: SOFIA's latest high-resolution Mid-infrared Spectrometer
Professor Dan Watson, chair of Rochester's Department of Physics and Astronomy, is a member of the team under the leadership of Dr. Harvey Moseley at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center that is developing the new HIRMES instrument and its mission on NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
2016 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science Recipient
Robert Boyd Wins 2016 Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Science for his fundamental contributions to the field of nonlinear optics, including the development of approaches for controlling the velocity of light, of quantum imaging methods, and of composite nonlinear optical materials.
A new way to determine the age of stars?
Rochester researchers have developed a new conceptual framework for understanding how stars similar to our Sun evolve. According to Eric Blackman, professor of physics and astronomy, the work could also “ultimately help to determine the age of stars more precisely than is currently possible.”
Daguerreotype exhibit explores nanotechnology’s role in preserving local history
While damage to daguerreotype plates is often visible by eye, evidence of further deterioration may only be detected at the nano level. The University is leading groundbreaking research that bridges the gap between science, history, and the arts.
Discovery of classic pi formula a ‘cunning piece of magic’
When most people think about pi, they associate the mathematical constant with arcs and circles. Mathematicians, however, are accustomed to seeing it in a variety of fields. But two University physicists were still surprised to find it lurking in a quantum mechanics formula for the energy states of the hydrogen atom.
Rochester team among those awarded $3 million Breakthrough Prize for work with neutrinos
A team led by professors Steven Manly and Kevin McFarland was honored “for the fundamental discovery of neutrino oscillations, revealing a new frontier beyond, and possibly far beyond, the standard model of particle physics.”