News: Faculty

2026

Machine learning smooths the road from idea to real-world climate impact

August 31, 2026

University of Chicago postdoctoral scholar Andrea Darù is the first author of a paper describing an end-to-end, machine-learning-guided workflow that smooths the often-bumpy path new materials face when going from academic idea to manufacture-ready real

Research outlines a new workflow for design and manufacturing, illustrated by two new methane-fighting materials.


ACS announces 2027 national award winners

August 31, 2026

Laura Gagliardi (L) and Mark Levin

Laura Gagliardi and Mark Levin acknowledged for their outstanding achievements in chemistry across various fields.


UChicago planetary scientists detect atmosphere on the coldest lava world to date

August 27, 2026

artist's depiction of a lava world

Studying the atmospheres of lava worlds offers window to Earth’s earliest history, pathway to habitable worlds.


NSF Renews Quantum Leap Challenge Institute with $37.5 Million Investment in Quantum Sensing for Biology

August 25, 2026

Students work with lasers in lab

The U.S. National Science Foundation has renewed the Quantum Leap Challenge Institute for Quantum Sensing for Biophysics and Bioengineering (NSF QuBBE) with a $37.5 million, five-year investment to advance quantum sensing technologies that can reveal biological processes difficult or impossible to observe with conventional tools.

 


The telescope that points itself

August 24, 2026

The Víctor M. Blanco 4 metre Telescope at Cerro Tololo, Chile.

AI has now been turned to the sky because astronomers have a scheduling problem—Time on a major telescope is rationed.


Fields Medal wins spotlight new generation of Chinese scientists rising globally

August 24, 2026

Chinese mathematician Hong Wang and Yu Deng. Photo courtesy of IMU

The historic Fields Medal victories of two Peking University alumni have drawn attention to a wider generation of young Chinese scientists and technology entrepreneurs making their mark on the global stage.


3 concerns people have about data centers, expert says (Video)

August 24, 2026

Photo of Andrew Chiem.

Andrew Chien, professor at the University of Chicago and a senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, explains the three major reasons people are concerned with data centers in an interview conducted by SciLine, based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science.


Welcome to the neighborhood: ACS Fall 2026 brings the world to Chicago

August 24, 2026

Photo of the city of Chicago.

As the global research community gathers in Chicago for the American Chemical Society’s yearly conference, UChicago faculty and leadership share insights and innovations


Your phone is smarter than the world’s biggest particle detectors (but not for long)

August 17, 2026

A lightbulb.

Smart detectors will let us learn from “bad” data and could dramatically reduce the time between groundbreaking discoveries. An op-ed by David Miller.


The real reasons to be terrified about AI and WMD

August 17, 2026

Scientist holding a vial.

Artificial intelligence is already transforming warfare, whether it’s waged by missile, drone or satellite; on land or sea, or in the air, space or cyberspace. Perhaps the most terrifying prospect, though, is what awaits us when AI properly meets weapons of mass destruction, especially the diabolical trifecta of nuclear, biological and chemical arms. Daniel Holz weighs in.


‘Super-Earth’ planet shows signs it could have an atmosphere

August 17, 2026

An artist’s concept shows exoplanet LHS 1140b (right) surrounded by a helium-rich atmosphere.

Scientists say they have detected promising signs that a planet orbiting a star 49 light-years from Earth could have an atmosphere, making it potentially suitable for life.


University of Chicago links denoising models to nuclear quantum effects

August 17, 2026

Researchers at the University of Chicago and New York University have revealed a shared mathematical structure between the noise inherent in generative modeling and the quantum fluctuations of atomic nuclei.

Researchers at the University of Chicago and New York University have revealed a shared mathematical structure between the noise inherent in generative modeling and the quantum fluctuations of atomic nuclei.


IBM, UChicago demonstrate ‘quantum advantage,’ outperforming traditional computers with a quantum computer

August 10, 2026

IBM and researchers from the University of Chicago announced a demonstration in quantum computing that meets the fundamental criteria for “quantum advantage”—the point where quantum computers can be confirmed to have outperformed classical computers

Scientists used a new error correction method to crack a classically intractable problem. Prof. Bill Fefferman and his grad student Soumik Ghosh co-authored the paper.


New open-source software predicts energy transfer between tiny defects in solid materials

August 10, 2026

Scientific illustration of energy transfer between atomic-scale defects in a solid, as modeled by the open-source PyRET software developed by Argonne and UChicago researchers. (Image by Argonne National Laboratory)

Connecting atomic-scale behavior to larger-scale material properties to predict the performance of real optical devices.


UChicago community envisions future of climate and energy at Aspen Ideas: Climate

August 10, 2026

Uchicago at Aspen Ideas: Climate

The Institute for Climate and Sustainable Growth served as the leading academic thought partner for the summit, with a large cohort of students and scholars attending for three packed days in Chicago.