News: Faculty

2026

New center to build safer, cleaner and more sustainable batteries

March 24, 2026

Assoc. Prof. Shrayesh Patel (right) will lead the new Center for Organic Battery Innovation as director. (Photo by John Zich.)

The Center for Organic Battery Innovation seeks to replace lithium-ion batteries with organic materials.


Insights into how materials transform at the nanoscale

March 24, 2026

UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering PhD student Binyu Wu is the first author of a new paper in Nature Synthesis that explores the role of cation exchange in one of chemistry and material science’s central challenges: How covalent materials

Research from the lab of Paul Alivisatos, and a clear Cellular Automaton model for future teams, shed new light on cation exchange reaction of nanocrystals.


Excavating Armageddon and the art of imagining the end

March 24, 2026

The object registration room in the expedition headquarters of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) at the site of Megiddo.

A program hosted by UChicago's ISAC Museum explored how a biblical battleground, a doomsday clock and a looping film each translate existential risk into something real.


Could data centers break our power grid? With Andrew Chien

March 24, 2026

Photo of electricity pylons linked together.

AI demands are straining energy systems and the environment; scientist proposes a more sustainable solution in this Big Brains episode featuring computer scientist Andrew Chien.


Science the star at special UChicago, Argonne screening of “Project Hail Mary”

March 24, 2026

The panel discussion after the movie featured (from left): Moderator and Argonne communications coordinator Gillian King-Cargile, Argonne computational biologist Nicholas Lee-Ping Chia, UChicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering graduate Gregory Gr

Professors including Wendy Friedman and Fred Ciesla discuss the special advanced screening of the movie "Project Hail Mary," placing science rather than Ryan Gosling as its focus. 


Atlas: Four decades of nuclear physics innovation

March 24, 2026

The Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System 〈ATLAS〉 celebrates 40 years of innovation. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory.)

From split‑ring resonators to rare‑isotope beams, ATLAS has been expanding the frontiers of nuclear physics for four decades — and it’s just getting started.


UChicago’s Chuan He recognized for real-world impact of research

March 24, 2026

Photo of Chuan He.

University of Chicago researcher Chuan He has been recognized for the potential real-world impact of his work – including a method to dramatically increase crop yields and an innovative liquid biopsy test that can detect early-stage cancer.


Could AI help us be more thoughtful voters?

March 24, 2026

Chenhao Tan (Faculty Co-Director of Novel Intelligence at the DSI and Associate Professor of Computer Science and Data Science) and his team have launched CivicChats, an AI platform designed to help voters engage more critically and thoughtfully with ball

UChicago researchers launch civic chatbot to educate and challenge voters.
 


Nanodiamonds and Beyond: Designing carbon materials with artificial intelligence at exascale

March 24, 2026

Evolution pathways of post-detonation nanodiamonds into carbon nano-onions and carbon dots under extreme thermodynamic conditions following a detonation event. Structures are based on exascale molecular dynamics simulations and visually enhanced with AI t

Argonne scientists discover how extreme conditions shape carbon into advanced materials for medicine, energy and defense.


Ancient star opens window to early days of the universe

March 24, 2026

Stars in the ultra-faint dwarf galaxy, Pictor II, which is more than ten billion years old. Scientists have determined that one of the stars in this image, PicII-503, likely dates back to the second generation of stars in the universe.

Still in its original galaxy, a rare holdout from the second generation of stars sheds new light on the origins of the elements—and how massive supernovae reshaped the cosmos.


PSD faculty earn NSF CAREER Awards

March 13, 2026

NSF CAREER Awards

Congratulations to the PSD faculty members who have received NSF CAREER Awards. According to the NSF, the prestigious CAREER award supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
 


Ka Yee C. Lee appointed dean of UChicago’s Physical Sciences Division

March 12, 2026

Ka Yee C. Lee

Prof. Ka Yee C. Lee has been appointed dean of the Physical Sciences Division, following two years of dedicated service as interim dean. Her term began March 1.


Bonnie Fleming joins UChicago Physics Department’s full-time faculty

March 9, 2026

Bonnie Fleming

Bonnie Fleming has joined UChicago as professor of physics, effective March 10. Previously, Fleming served as Fermilab’s Deputy Director for Science and Technology and Chief Research Officer and a part-time University of Chicago faculty member with appointments in the Physics Department and the Enrico Fermi Institute. Read a Q&A with our newest full-time physics professor.


Karl F. Freed, pioneering theoretical chemist and decoder of molecular complexity, 1942–2026

March 9, 2026

Karl Freed

University of Chicago Prof. Emeritus Karl Frederick Freed, whose mathematical rigor provided the scaffolding for modern molecular theory, died Jan. 11. He was 83.


PUEO mission floats over Antarctica to detect rare cosmic particles

March 2, 2026

In this handout photo provided by NASA, a landscape of mountains and valleys speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina

University of Chicago’s PUEO mission floated above Antarctica for 23 days, collecting data on ultra-high energy neutrinos from 120,000 feet, with results expected in one year.