News: Faculty

2022

Using quantum data to create an unhackable Internet: ‘We’re getting close,’ University of Chicago expert leading project says

October 14, 2022

A superconducting nanowire single-photon detector on a lab bench

A profile of the Chicago quantum network project. “What we’re looking at is: Can you transmit info in a secure way that is immune to hacking and protects your personal and privacy?” says Prof. David Awschalom, Dept. of Physics. “We’re getting close.”


Common deidentification methods don’t fully protect data privacy, study finds

October 13, 2022

people walking cast long shadows

In an award-winning paper, Asst. Prof. Aloni Cohen, Dept. of Computer Science and Data Science, described a new kind of attack called “downcoding” and warns that the most popular data transformations intended to anonymize should not be considered sufficient to protect individuals’ privacy.


Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences honors David Uminsky

October 13, 2022

David Uminsky

For Hispanic Hertiage Month, the group Latinxs and Hispanics in the Mathematical Sciences (Lathisms) spotlighted David Uminsky, the director of the Data Science Institute.


Chicago scientists are testing an unhackable quantum internet in their basement closet

October 11, 2022

Hardware for quantum computing in a lab

The Washington Post visited Prof. David Awschalom's lab to explore the cutting edge quantum research happening in Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and Dept. of Physics at UChicago.


David Awschalom awarded $1 million for development of South Korea-U.S. quantum center

October 5, 2022

David Awschalom

The National Research Foundation of South Korea (NRF) has awarded Prof. David Awschalom on the Dept. of Physics $1 million to co-lead the creation of a South Korea-U.S. joint research center dedicated to quantum error correction.


UChicago scientists to help lay out vision for future of particle physics

October 4, 2022

Part of the accelerator that feeds particles to the Large Hadron Collider in Europe, where the Higgs boson was discovered in 2012.

UChicago physicists Michael Turner, Young Kee-Kim, and Marcela Carena are helping launch a study to set a vision for the next decades of elementary particle physics in a broad sense for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine.


Yamuna Krishnan wins NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for High-Risk, High-Reward Research

October 3, 2022

Yamuna Krishnan

Prof. Yamuna Krishnan has been awarded the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award for High-Risk, High-Reward Research. Her group will embark on an ambitious new direction to map organelles electrochemically.


PSD in the News - September 2022

October 3, 2022

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to explain half-rock, half-water exoplanets around small stars, build a wheel that can crawl along varying terrain, and comment on climate science related to Hurricane Ian.


Prof. Nakamura discusses Hurricane Ian on Chicago Tonight

September 30, 2022

Prof. Noboru Nakamura and the host of Chicago Tonight

Prof. Noboru Nakamura, Department of the Geophysical Sciences, joined “Chicago Tonight” to talk about Hurricane Ian.


President Alivisatos and Provost Lee: Start of Autumn Quarter ‘an exciting time with unlimited opportunities’

September 27, 2022

Ka Yee C Lee and Paul Alivisatos

University leaders welcome UChicago community back to campus for new academic year.


A wheel made of ‘odd matter’ spontaneously rolls uphill

September 26, 2022

Prof. Vincenzo Vitelli and physicist Corentin Coulais of the University of Amsterdam have engineered an odd wheel that uses component parts to automatically adjust its wiggling motion to compensate for uneven terrain.


University of Chicago hosts first South Side Science Festival

September 20, 2022

A child in a spinning chair holds a rotating bike wheel to demo angular momentum

The all-day, all ages event highlighted the importance of STEM education, careers in science and understanding how science impacts daily life. The festival was created to connect South Side community members with science education resources.


Introducing new faculty in the Physical Sciences Division

September 15, 2022

psd logo

Welcome to the new faculty joining the Physical Sciences Division in the '22-23 academic year!


UChicago/Argonne researchers will cultivate AI model “gardens” with $3.5M NSF grant

September 8, 2022

lettuce growing in rows

The Garden Project led by Prof. Ian Foster has been awarded a $3.5 million grant from NSF for researchers from materials science, physics, and chemistry, to create “Model Gardens” that publish and curate AI models, link them with data and computing resources, and make it simple for users.


Internet disconnect: CS and social science join forces to plumb the digital divide

September 8, 2022

Illustration of hands reaching up with smart devices

A UChicago Magazine feature on the Internet Equity Initiative that uses existing data to explore the digital divide and develops new ways of measuring internet activity.