News

AI technology is increasingly used to open up new horizons for scientists and researchers. At the University of Chicago, researchers are using it for everything from scanning the skies for supernovae to finding new drugs from millions of potential combinations and developing a deeper understanding of the complex phenomena underlying the Earth’s climate. 

 

This month, PSD researchers have been featured for researching wearable tech that uses electrical stimulation to help a user's muscles perform tasks, extraterrestrial dust that hints at our past, and revolutionary pacemaker technology.

Three UChicago CS PhD students and two students from the MS in Computational Analysis and Public Policy (CAPP) program were named to the 2020 class of Siebel Scholars, the Thomas and Stacey Siebel Foundation announced. They are 5 of this year’s cohort of 93 Siebel Scholars, who are chosen from a select group of graduate schools for business, computer science, energy science and bioengineering.

The National Science Foundation has awarded $4 million to the University of Chicago to host the development of an ambitious multi-institutional program to map the leftover light from the Big Bang in greater detail than ever before. 
 

Gravitational waves will be the focus of a free UChicago lecture series this fall aimed at making the physical sciences accessible to the public. The lectures will be held at 11 a.m. Saturdays from Sept. 28 to Nov. 23 in Lecture Hall 106 at the Kersten Physics Teaching Center. 

“Out in the PSD and PME,” an exhibit featuring large-scale portraits of LGBTQ+ and ally members of the Physical Sciences Division and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, will premiere on National Coming Out Day, Oct. 11. Located in the atrium of the William Eckhardt Research Center, the exhibit aims to shed light on the realities of LGBTQ+ people in science and the struggles and triumphs they experience. 

Shirley has been a member of the PSD for 26 years and is originally from Natchez, MS. She truly enjoys being able to apply problem-solving skills in her role of Associate Dean of Students.

A new study by a group of scientists including a University of Chicago professor argues that the ice age was caused by global cooling, triggered by extra dust in the atmosphere from a giant asteroid collision in outer space. 

Forbes features Prof. Fred Chong's Quora response to the question: how will quantum computing change our society? He discusses possible technological advancements using quantum computing, including providing new means for encrypting and securely communicating data. 

Fifteen faculty members across five departments joined the Physical Sciences Division this fall. Read more about their research interests and backgrounds.

The Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics is partnering with the University of Chicago Library to run a pilot study to determine how to scan 175,000 photographic glass plate slides from Yerkes Observatory in a way that will facilitate meaningful scientific inquiry.  

Prof. Alex Eskin, a UChicago mathematician who co-proved a “magic wand theorem” has been awarded one of the $3 million Breakthrough Prizes. 

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration, of which the University of Chicago is a partner, received the prize for creating the first image of a black hole earlier this year.  Michael Levin, an associate professor of physics studying quantum condensed matter physics, was also awarded the New Horizons Prize along with three other physicists. 

Asst. Prof. Pedro Lopes reimagines the role of “human” in human-computer interaction. Some of Lopes's projects consider how humans respond to computers being in control of their anatomy.  

Assoc. Prof. Bozhi Tian develops a less invasive pacemaker--silicon cells that could be injected into the heart and operated using pulses of light. 

Prof. David Jablonksi addresses a long-standing biodiversity question: why are there so many species at the equator and so few near the poles? In one study, Jablonski, whose research on mollusks has shaped the field, worked with a UChicago bird biologist to understand how species across the world live in different climates. In the second, Jablonski and postdoc Katie Collins used a micro CT scanner to analyze how forms of mollusks change from tropics to poles.