News

2020

Three undergraduates awarded Goldwater Scholarships

April 9, 2020

Spencer Dembner, Vennela Mannava and Thomas Propson

Three undergraduates awarded Goldwater Scholarships to support STEM education: third-years Spencer Dembner, Vennela Mannava and Thomas Propson honored


Will Coronavirus Freeze the Search for Dark Matter?

April 9, 2020

Scientists Kobayashi and Taratanni close up a detector in Italy

Article notes Assoc. Prof. Luca Grandi’s role in the Xenon experiment, an investigation into the nature of dark matter, which has been halted by the pandemic


Five awarded 2020 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

April 8, 2020

NSF logo

Congratulations to UChicago PSD’s five 2020 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program recipients, David Zegeye and Cory Cotter in astronomy, LeeAnn Marie Sager in chemistry, and Jordan T Kemp and Amanda Mirna Farah in physics.


‘Amazing’ Math Bridge Extended Beyond Fermat’s Last Theorem

April 7, 2020

Illustration of two islands linked by a bridge

In Quanta, Prof. Matthew Emerton describes two new papers that reveal fundamental number-theoretic phenomena that overcome the barrier of bridging two continents—a challenge generations of researchers have pursued as “Langland's program,” which seeks to create a grand unified theory of mathematics. These findings may help prove Fermat’s Last Theorem for some number systems beyond the positive whole numbers.


Richard Miller, pioneering computational astrophysicist, 1926-2020

April 6, 2020

Richard Miller, 1926-2020

Founding Chair on the Committee of Information Sciences and pioneer in numerical simulations of the formation of structure in the universe and dynamics of galaxies died on Mar. 7


Intentional Space: simple strategies blog

April 3, 2020

Intentional Space blog: taking in content

taking in content
Read the PSD Communications blog Intentional Space for simple strategies to help you navigate working from home and heightening your awareness. This blog series by PSD Communications Specialist Maureen McMahon will run during Spring Quarter. Find simple work-from-home routines, mindfulness strategies, and ways to cultivate a peaceful day.


Researchers join forces to study how best to decontaminate N95 masks

April 2, 2020

N95 Mask

A team of 60 scientists and engineers, students and clinicians from both the private sector and universities, including the University of Chicago, are unveiling N95decon.org, a website that synthesizes the scientific literature about mask decontamination to create a set of best practices to decontaminate and reuse this protective face covering during the current emergency.


Intentional Space: simple strategies blog

March 31, 2020

Cultivating a peaceful day

cultivating a peaceful workday
Read the PSD Communications blog Intentional Space for simple strategies to help you navigate working from home and heightening your awareness. This blog series by PSD Communications Specialist Maureen McMahon will run during Spring Quarter. Find simple work-from-home routines, mindfulness strategies, and ways to cultivate a peaceful day.


Statistician Rina Foygel Barber wins Peter Gavin Hall Early Career Prize

March 30, 2020

Rina Foygel Barber

Prof. Foygel Barber wins Hall Award “for outstanding
contributions to the development of methodology and theory for structured
high-dimensional data problems such as sparse regression, sparse
nonparametric models, and low-rank models, as well as scalable
optimization techniques for nonconvex problems.”


PSD in the News - March 2020

March 30, 2020

PSD in white against a maroon background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for the efforts of chemists to decode RNA of the new coronavirus, using AI to decode cuneiform tablets, and predicting a new state of matter.


Labs around UChicago donate protective equipment to hospital

March 27, 2020

aerial view of hospital

Prof. Margaret Gardel leads effort to donate thousands of pieces of personal protective equipment from UChicago labs.


COVID-19 research declared initial focus of C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute

March 27, 2020

Crerar building

The new C3.ai Digital Transformation Institute (C3.ai DTI) unites six research universities, including UChicago, with AI software provider C3.ai and Microsoft to focus scientific efforts on advancing the knowledge, science and technologies for mitigating the impact of future pandemics.


Intentional Space: simple strategies blog

March 27, 2020

Intentional Space Working from Home & a morning routine

working at home & a morning routine
Read the PSD Communications blog Intentional Space for simple strategies to help you navigate working from home and heightening your awareness. This blog series by PSD Communications Specialist Maureen McMahon will run during Spring Quarter. Find simple work-from-home routines, mindfulness strategies, and ways to cultivate a peaceful day.


Mark Levin awarded Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigators Prize

March 24, 2020

Mark Levin

Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry Mark Levin was awarded the Cancer Research Foundation Young Investigators Prize for his proposal to find a new way to create a synthetic tracer compound which will significantly improve the effectiveness of current PET scan technology. If he is successful, his technology will open the door to a whole new class of more effective imaging compounds.


Margaret Gardel awarded the Sackler Prize in Biophysics

March 24, 2020

Margaret Gardel

Margaret Gardel, Professor in the Department of Physics and Director of the Material Research Science and Engineering Center, was awarded $25,000 for work on how cells sense mechanical forces and respond to those forces with chemical activity.