News

Fernando Bañales Mejia was born and raised in Riverside, California. After graduating from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York, in 2017, he attended the University of Chicago for two years as a PSD Pathway scholar in the Master of Science in the Physical Sciences Division (MSPSD) program. He completed the program in 2020, during the pandemic.

Graduate student Katrina Miller writes for Scientific American about astronomers, like Assoc. Prof. in physics Abigail Vieregg who works on IceCube, searching for the Universe’s most energetic particles by turning on the radio.

Victor Veitch, a new assistant professor in the Department of Statistics and the first faculty hire in the University of Chicago’s new data science initiative, wants to see a future of “safe and credible” artificial intelligence. In order to realize that vision, he’s interested in revising the foundations of machine learning so that models work in ways more palatable to humans and human values, instead of today’s black boxes and non-sequitur logic.

Planetary scientist Edwin Kite led a study finding icy clouds could have kept early Mars warm enough for rivers and lakes.

Chemist Laura Gagliardi and astrophysicist and dean Angela Olinto elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.

UChicago’s incoming President Alivisatos is committed to supporting students from a broad array of backgrounds and to fostering a pride in academic inquiry in the same way President Zimmer has been. The Chicago Maroon on this and many other positive qualities he shares with the current president.

Pioneering mathematicians Amie Wilkinson and Benson Farb and astrophysicist and Dean of the Physical Sciences Angela Olinto have been elected to the 2021 American Academy of Arts & Sciences.

Assistant professor in computer science, Sarah Sebo, discusses human-robot interaction and "inner speech" — in humans, and now, robots.

PSD’s April spotlight is Jolene Hanchar, Department Administrator for the Department of the Geophysical Sciences. Jolene has been with UChicago for 20 years, since 2001.

Assistant Professor Chenhao Tan weighs in on the science of making tweets go viral and if negative tweets are longer lasting.

Incoming University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos has conducted pioneering research in the field of nanotechnology. This article takes a closer look at his life and the work that led to his winning the 2021 Priestley Medal—the American Chemical Society's highest honor.

The University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation is pleased to announce the launch of DeepTechU, a venture conference showcasing deep tech innovation and 48 investor-ready companies from universities and national labs. The virtual conference will take place April 20-22, 2021, and will feature quick pitches as well as discussions with industry experts and entrepreneurs. Look for exciting PSD start-ups among the line up.

Join UChicago this Earth Week for programming around sustainability and environmental research, education and awareness initiatives. Also, learn about the new UChicago ECo.

The Physical Sciences Division funded creative efforts to impact climate and foster belonging with the Inclusive Climate Grants program administered by the EDI Office. Four winning projects found innovative ways to further the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion on campus during the pandemic.

The SAND Lab (Security, Algorithms, Networking and Data) at the University of Chicago has created a novel technique for user authentication that takes advantage of an individual’s unique response to stimuli. By providing a variety of gentle electrical stimuli to the muscles of the forearm and measuring the resulting finger movements, users can be robustly and uniquely identified.