News: Faculty

2020

PSD’s Sunyoung Park and Sarah Sebo join faculty and staff recommending what you should read over winter break

December 21, 2020

Man reading at Mansueto Library

PSD's Assistant Professors Sunyoung Park and Sarah Sebo were among faculty and staff asked what they've read that they’d recommend to the campus community: Their list includes subjects ranging from the multigenerational family struggles of Korean immigrants living in Japan, to a treatise on mushrooms and capitalism, to a meditation on what therapy can bring to our lives.


New study helps pinpoint when Earth’s tectonic plates began

December 18, 2020

Rocks and a lake in the Canadian Tundra

New study helps pinpoint when Earth’s tectonic plates began—rocks tell story of planet’s transition from alien landscape to continents, oceans and life


PSD most read stories 2020

December 15, 2020

PSD in white against a maroon background

In this unprecedented year of news, fifteen PSD-related stories on the UChicago News site garnered over 4,000 views according to Google analytics. The vital role of the PSD response to the pandemic is represented alongside coverage of the University’s appointment of its first woman provost and breakthroughs in field-defining research. Here, ranked by highest readership, are the top stories covering PSD news and research for 2020.


Prof. Elisabeth Moyers’ new US Energy History Visualization profiled in The Atlantic

December 9, 2020

Sankey Diagram image of US Energy Use

Geophysical Sciences Professor Elisabeth Moyer discusses her work on the Research Computing Center's U.S. Energy History Visualization in the Atlantic. It is an interactive Sankey diagram of energy transitions.


Geophysical Sciences Prof. Fred Ciesla comments on asteroid dust from Hayabusa2 solving a mystery of planet creation

December 8, 2020

Upclose image of Chondrules in polarized light

Geophysical Sciences Prof. Fred Ciesla comments on asteroid dust from Hayabusa2 solving a mystery of planet creation


UChicago campus full voter engagement helps boost Hyde Park-Kenwood voter turn-out to 88.19%

December 2, 2020

Students wearing blue Vote sweatshirts on UChicago campus

UChicago campus full voter engagement helps boost Hyde Park-Kenwood voter turn-out to 88.19 percent. Precinct 27, which covers campus, exceeded 100 percent voter turn-out


New nanotechnology design provides hope for personalized ‘vaccination’ to treat cancer

November 30, 2020

 close up of cancer cells

Professor of Chemistry Wenbin Lin co-led a new study that uses a nanotechology to provide hope for personalized ‘vaccination’ to treat cancer


South African roots, travel shape computer scientist’s research

November 30, 2020

Marshini Chetty, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science, studies human-computer interaction. Her South African roots and extensive travel have shaped her research, which focuses, in part, on making the internet a more inclusive space.


Pioneering PSD scientists Laura Gagliardi, John Carlstrom, and Yamuna Krishnan recognized as 2020 AAAS fellows

November 24, 2020

Three portraits of PSD scientists, Laura Gagliardi, John Carlstrom, and Yamuna Krishnan

Five UChicago scientists named 2020 AAAS fellows, with pioneering PSD scientists Laura Gagliardi, John Carlstrom, and Yamuna Krishnan attaining recognition


Chicago Quantum Summit highlights new U.S. quantum centers, economic opportunities

November 23, 2020

Two columns of attendees on Zoom at a conference

The third annual Chicago Quantum Summit, hosted virtually at the University of Chicago Nov. 11-13 by the Chicago Quantum Exchange, brought together more than 20 speakers from across the nation and attracted more than 1,000 attendees from 42 countries


ECHO game brings students together—and keeps them safe

November 20, 2020

Woman scientist in wig

This Autumn Quarter an alternate reality game created by an interdisciplinary group of UChicago researchers gathered 70 teams of students—and helped keep them safe. Culminating in an Oct. 30 livestream, the ECHO game brought together students and other members of the UChicago community through weeks of collaborative play


Computer scientist Nick Feamster discusses Twitter and Facebook disinformation on WTTW

November 20, 2020

Two men in a split panel image from WTTW news

Computer scientist Nick Feamster discusses Twitter and Facebook disinformation on PBS-affiliate WTTW


PSD in the News - November 2020

November 19, 2020

PSD in white against a maroon background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to turn an IBM computer into a quantum material, unlock why supersymmetry can solve problems in the Standard Model, and tune materials to launch a new computing paradigm inspired by the energy-efficiency of the brain.


New computer science Asst. Prof. Robert Rand writes the language for tomorrow’s quantum computers

November 19, 2020

Robert Rand, Computer Science Assistant Professor

New computer science Assistant Professor Robert Rand builds interfaces for revolutionary quantum machines


Meteorite hunters Assoc. Prof. Phillipp Heck and postdoctoral researcher Jennika Greer featured on CNN

November 19, 2020

Still from a CNN report about meteor landing on Michigan, shows meteor falling above cars on a highway

Meteorite hunters Assoc. Prof. Phillipp Heck and postdoctoral researcher Jennika Greer featured on CNN