News: Awards

2024

Two UChicago scientists honored with 2024 Department of Energy Early Career Awards

October 17, 2024

Portrait of Prof. Joyce

Astronomy and Astrophysics Asst. Prof. Austin Joyce has been selected for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. Prof. Joyce will use this opportunity to apply cosmological quantum field theory to understand how the universe evolved and acquired its structure.


Alex Drlica-Wagner and Tiffany Shaw have been elected to the American Physical Society’s Fellows

October 17, 2024

Photo of Shaw and Drlica-Wagner

Two UChicago faculty members were recognized as 2024 APS Fellows. Prof. Tiffany Shaw was selected for her contributions to atmospheric dynamics and its response to climate change, while Asst. Prof. Alex Drlica-Wagner was honored for his work in observational cosmology, including groundbreaking research in dark matter science.


Assistant professor of physics Zoe Yan named to the 2024 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering

October 15, 2024

Zoe Yan

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation announced today the 2024 class of Packard Fellows for Science and Engineering, including UChicago assistant professor of physics Zoe Yan. This year’s class features 20 innovative early-career scientists and engineers who will each receive $875,000 over five years to pursue their research. This year’s class of Fellows is pushing the boundaries of science and innovation in their fields of study, from advances in detecting and treating serious diseases to understanding how species react to changing climates to energy-efficient electronics. 


UChicago alum John Jumper shares Nobel Prize for model to predict protein structures

October 9, 2024

John Jumper

Congrats to John Jumper, SM'12, PhD'17, who was awarded a share of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work creating an AI model called AlphaFold that predicts the structures of proteins. 

Jumper studied with Karl Freed, Henry G. Gale Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and member of the James Franck Institute; and Tobin Sosnick, William B. Graham Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and member of the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics.

Jumper becomes the 100th scholar associated with UChicago to receive a Nobel Prize!


Five UChicago CS students named to Siebel Scholars class of 2025

September 20, 2024

Siebel Scholars photo grid

Zewei Liao, Michael Rosenbaum, Brennan Schaffner, Lennart Maximilian Seifert, and Shawn Shan were selected to the prestigious program’s Class of 2025.


UChicago astrophysicist Rafael Luque receives ‘Starting Grant’ from the European Research Council

September 5, 2024

Rafael Luque

The five-year, €1.5 million grant will help understand the properties of sub-Neptune exoplanets.


Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics welcomes Brinson Prize Fellow Anirudh Chiti

August 27, 2024

Ani Chiti

Congratulations to Anirudh (Ani) Chiti, who has been named a Brinson Prize Fellow at the University of Chicago in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics.


Astronomy and Astrophysics PhD student Ava Polzin selected as a 2024 Quad Fellow

August 13, 2024

Ava Polzin

Ava Polzin is one of 50 students selected as a 2024 Quad Fellow. Now in its second year, the Quad Fellowship supports exceptional master's and doctoral students pursuing studies in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in the United States.


Three UChicago undergraduate students earn 2024 Goldwater Scholarships

July 15, 2024

from left: Sarah Kress, Eva McCord, and Joshua Pixley

University of Chicago rising fourth-year students Sarah Kress, Eva McCord, and Joshua Pixley have been awarded 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholarships. Kress and Pixley are chemistry majors.


UChicago faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships in 2024

July 1, 2024

Clockwise from top left: David Archer, Benson Farb, Yamuna Krishnan, Young-Kee Kim

Four Physical Sciences Division faculty members have received distinguished service professorships or named professorships. Congratulations, Profs. Archer, Farb, Kim, and Krishnan!


Light from darkness: Using photonic crystal cavities to build superconductors

June 24, 2024

quantum computer

Researchers at UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering and UChicago Physics plan to use a $1.5 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop an entirely new method of engineering superconductors for quantum computers and other high-tech applications.


UChicago President Paul Alivisatos shares 2024 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience

June 12, 2024

Paul Alivisatos

The prestigious award recognizes pioneering work in nanoscale materials for medical applications. Alivisatos, University President and the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, is widely known as a pioneer in nanoscience, the study of how materials behave at extremely tiny scales.


Prof. Stuart Rowan elected to the Royal Society

May 29, 2024

Stuart Rowan

Stuart Rowan, the Barry L. MacLean Professor for Molecular Engineering Innovation and Enterprise, has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society.


2024 Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize for Exceptional Service in the Physical Sciences Division

May 22, 2024

John Carlstrom

Congratulations to the 2024 recipient of the Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize: John Carlstrom!


UChicago announces 2024 winners of Quantrell and PhD Teaching Awards

May 16, 2024

Fred Chong (top), Sid Nagel

Fred Chong, the Seymour Goodman Professor in the Department of Computer Science, has been awarded a Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award. Sidney Nagel, the Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor of Physics and the College, has won a Faculty Award for Excellence in PhD Teaching and Mentoring.

Congratulations, Profs. Chong and Nagel!