News

2021

Sheila Hohmann, scientific business administrator, 1946-2021

May 25, 2021

Sheila Hohmann

Sheila Hohmann, a revered scientific business administrator who completed 42 years of service at the University of Chicago, died at 74. She rose to become the financial expert for the Division and the first woman Associate Dean of the Physical Sciences. Honing a sharp business acumen and a talent for managing complex research and planning efforts, she devoted herself to promoting the University to a world-class destination for scientific research. 
 


Chemistry professor Weixin Tang named 2021 Searle Scholar

May 25, 2021

Weixin Tang

Neubauer Family Assistant Professor Weixin Tang of the Department of Chemistry has been named a 2021 Searle Scholar, which supports the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry. She will be awarded $300,000 to pursue research on sequencing and epigenetics to understand biological processes critical to cellular functions.


Two computer science alumni named to 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list

May 24, 2021

Leslie Jones-Dove, AB’19, and Devshi Mehrotra, AB’19

Forbes 30 Under 30 recognized Leslie Jones-Dove, AB’19, and Devshi Mehrotra, AB’19, who met as computer science majors, for their contributions to social impact. The pair took their capstone project for an “Entrepreneurship in Technology" class and built it out into a public defense software called JusticeText.


Prof. Beilinson accepts Shaw Prize Award

May 21, 2021

Prof. Alexander Beilinson

Prof. Beilinson, Department of Mathematics, accepted the Shaw Prize Award in Mathematical Sciences for his achievements in representation theory. Watch the acceptance speech.


A material with memory

May 21, 2021

Illustration of actin networks wherein the actin filaments are aligned after pressure

A research team at the University of Chicago is now exploring the properties of a material found in cells which allows cells to remember and respond to environmental pressure. In a paper published on May 14, 2021 in Soft Matter, they teased out secrets for how it works—and how it could someday form the basis for making useful materials.
 


PSD faculty among 2021 winners of Quantrell and Graduate Teaching Awards

May 20, 2021

Portraits of Blase Ur and Daniel Fabrycky on a maroon background

Blase Ur, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Computer Science, is a recipient of the Quantrell award, one of the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching. Daniel Fabrycky, assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship. Read more about the awards and recipients.


PSD recognizes ten students with a William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship

May 19, 2021

psd logo

The Physical Sciences Division has selected ten graduate students to receive a William Rainey Harper Dissertation Fellowship for the 2021-2022 academic year.  


2021 Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize for Exceptional Service in the Physical Sciences Division

May 19, 2021

Physical Sciences data map logo

The 2021 recipients of the Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize for Exceptional Service in the Physical Sciences Division are Aaron Dinner, Professor of Chemistry, and Stuart Kurtz, the George and Elizabeth Yovovich Professor of Computer Science in recognition of their leadership in the Division.
 


Ten papers at CHI 2021 flourish frontiers of HCI research at UChicago CS

May 18, 2021

A woman wearing virtual reality goggles walks through an illustrated depiction of what her goggles show her, with the conference logo for CHI 2021.

Computer Science participated in CHI 2021, a Human Computer Interaction conference, with an emerging group of UChicago faculty and student researchers representing the many different corners of HCI. This year, ten UChicago papers were accepted to the prestigious conference, with one receiving a Best Paper Award (given to the top 1 percent of submissions) and three others receiving Honorable Mentions (top 5 percent).


Symposium highlights UChicago collaborations with leading French research center

May 18, 2021

Yi Liu

An online symposium featured 11 presentations by student teams from UChicago and French universities affiliated with the French National Centre for Scientific Research, with questions and discussion from faculty supervisors. Attendees voted to choose the best presentations and awarded two prizes. PSD’s Yi Liu in the Department of Statistics (pictured) and Maria Douaihy of CNRS – U. Montpellier won second place for “Modeling Transcriptional Bursting in Space and Time.” First place was awarded to Marie Greaney of BSD and Maxime Lehman of CNRS – U. Paris-Saclay for “How is Sensory Information Transformed into Appropriate Motor Control?”


How a UChicago initiative fostered ‘synergy’ between art and science

May 18, 2021

Two students observe a hand held object.

The Arts, Science + Culture initiative seeks to foster cross-disciplinary collaborations between the arts and sciences, and is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. The many projects it has supported have encouraged PSD students to approach a research question interdisciplinarily. (Pictured) "Biophilia," co-led by Rossy Natale, a PhD student in integrative biology at UChicago.


Meet biophysical sciences student, Walter Alvarado

May 17, 2021

Walter Alvarado

Walter Alvarado was born in South Central, Los Angeles, California. Before joining UChicago, he completed a master’s in physics at Cal State University, Long Beach. He has been a graduate student here for three years in the Department of Biophysical Sciences, where his research combines computational physics and machine learning to elucidate chromatin remodeling and epigenetic regulation.


Incoming president Paul Alivisatos to join Department of Chemistry and PME

May 13, 2021

Paul Alivisatos

The Physical Sciences Division is pleased to announce incoming President of the University of Chicago Paul Alivisatos will become a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, starting September 1. Alivisatos is a pioneer in nanotechnologies and materials sciences.


Building molecules like Tinkertoys? A breakthrough study may pave the way

May 12, 2021

Balu Dherange and Kathleen Berger on either end of blackboard with a chemistry illustration in chalk

A new discovery from the group led by Asst. Prof. Mark Levin, Department of Chemistry, can easily cut nitrogen atoms from molecules. Similar processes currently in use generate a very toxic molecule—but Levin’s group instead adds a key reagent so nitrogen is released as two bonded nitrogens. As a new foundational method, the discovery opens up avenues for constructing molecules.


Kirk Lancaster, SB’18 Chemistry, named Knight-Hennessy Scholar

May 12, 2021

Chemistry alumnus Kirk Lancaster, SB’18, has been selected as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar and will receive full funding to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University. A student of Chinese language and formerly an intern at the State Department’s Office of Chemical and Biological Weapons Affairs, he will pursue advanced study of his intersecting interests of law, technology and international politics.