News: Faculty

We tend to separate the brain and the muscle—the brain does the thinking; the muscle does the doing. But a new study shows how the molecules that build structures, i.e, the muscle, can themselves do both the thinking and the doing.

In 1998, astrophysicists discovered that the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, attributed to a mysterious entity called dark energy that makes up about 70% of our universe.

Now, 25 years after the initial discovery, the scientists working on the Dark Energy Survey have released the results of an analysis using the same technique to further probe the mysteries of dark energy and the expansion of the universe.

Angela V. Olinto, dean of the Physical Sciences Division, has been named provost of Columbia University, effective March 1. Executive Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Ka Yee C. Lee will serve as interim dean, effective Feb. 5.

An interview with the new Director of the Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematics

Guillaume Bal, Professor of Statistics and Mathematics, was named the Director of the Committee on Computational and Applied Mathematics (CCAM), starting July 1, 2023. In this Q&A, he discusses his priorities for the committee, areas of potential growth, and his vision for collaboration.

Prof. John Carlstrom cited for microwave interferometry and observations of cosmic microwave background.

Discovery by UChicago astrophysicists, including Alex Ji, may change our picture of how stars explode and elements are made.

Assistant Professor Bill Fefferman and his group are headed to Taipei to present four works on today’s major quantum topics at QIP’24: the largest and most prestigious quantum computing research conference in the world.

Carlstrom, the Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics and Physics, is celebrated for work investigating the cosmic microwave background for clues about the early universe.

Prof. Margaret Gardel discusses her research and the arc of her career in this Physics World interview. "I wish I could tell myself 20 years ago that it’s okay to feel like an impostor."

A New York Times article highlights GS Prof. David Keith's Climate Systems Engineering Initiative, mentioning a recent two-day workshop on glacial geoengineering hosted by the initiative, and quotes Professor Emeritus Doug MacAyeal on how predictions have changed since the 1970s.

Assistant Professor of Chemistry Anna Wuttig has received an NSF CAREER Award, which supports junior faculty in the sciences through the Faculty Early Career Development Program. The highly regarded honor is bestowed annually upon researchers who have demonstrated exceptional promise in their respective fields. For Wuttig, it carries with it a five-year grant to support the project within the Chemical Catalysis Program of the Chemistry Division.

Long-time PSD Council member and chair Mihir Worah, PhD’95, and spouse Anupama Worah are the first donors to meet the Wallman fundraising challenge, endowing the Worah Family Chair in the Physical Sciences Division.

Asst. Prof. Anna Wuttig and her team found a way to use electricity to boost a type of chemical reaction often used in synthesizing new candidates for pharmaceutical drugs, which may lay the foundation for greener chemistry.

Cancers are often driven by proteins created by specific oncogenes. Drugs aimed at these proteins take advantage of their surface configurations to latch on and prevent them from interfering with cells, but some families of proteins lack pockets or crevices on their surfaces that the drugs can use. Attacking them is like climbing up a wall with no footholds. For decades, these proteins have been considered “undruggable,” but chemist Raymond Moellering is working to change that.

Three computer science professors have received named professorships: Henry Hoffmann, Bo Li, and Ce Zhang.