News: Faculty

Profs. Rich Kron and Chihway Chang of DES comment on “a smoother Universe” that is less dense than previously thought, based on an analysis of the largest ever map of dark matter created using light from 100 million galaxies.

Four PSD members are among 83 scientists selected for the DOE Early Career Research Program, awarding $150,000 annually for five years. Sarah King of Chemistry, Chihway Chang and Brian Nord of Astronomy & Astrophysics, and Lindsey Bleem, PhD'13, of KICP.

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to theorize non-reciprocal interactions, push the frontiers of human computer interaction, and cut nitrogen atoms from molecules, opening up avenues for constructing molecules.

Neubauer Family Assistant Professor Weixin Tang of the Department of Chemistry has been named a 2021 Searle Scholar, which supports the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry. She will be awarded $300,000 to pursue research on sequencing and epigenetics to understand biological processes critical to cellular functions.

Prof. Beilinson, Department of Mathematics, accepted the Shaw Prize Award in Mathematical Sciences for his achievements in representation theory. Watch the acceptance speech.

A research team at the University of Chicago is now exploring the properties of a material found in cells which allows cells to remember and respond to environmental pressure. In a paper published on May 14, 2021 in Soft Matter, they teased out secrets for how it works—and how it could someday form the basis for making useful materials.
 

Blase Ur, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Computer Science, is a recipient of the Quantrell award, one of the nation’s oldest prize for undergraduate teaching. Daniel Fabrycky, assistant professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, is the recipient of the Faculty Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship. Read more about the awards and recipients.

The 2021 recipients of the Arthur L. Kelly Faculty Prize for Exceptional Service in the Physical Sciences Division are Aaron Dinner, Professor of Chemistry, and Stuart Kurtz, the George and Elizabeth Yovovich Professor of Computer Science in recognition of their leadership in the Division.
 

Computer Science participated in CHI 2021, a Human Computer Interaction conference, with an emerging group of UChicago faculty and student researchers representing the many different corners of HCI. This year, ten UChicago papers were accepted to the prestigious conference, with one receiving a Best Paper Award (given to the top 1 percent of submissions) and three others receiving Honorable Mentions (top 5 percent).

The Physical Sciences Division is pleased to announce incoming President of the University of Chicago Paul Alivisatos will become a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, starting September 1. Alivisatos is a pioneer in nanotechnologies and materials sciences.

A new discovery from the group led by Asst. Prof. Mark Levin, Department of Chemistry, can easily cut nitrogen atoms from molecules. Similar processes currently in use generate a very toxic molecule—but Levin’s group instead adds a key reagent so nitrogen is released as two bonded nitrogens. As a new foundational method, the discovery opens up avenues for constructing molecules.

John Anderson, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago, has been named a 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar for leveraging unorthodox bonding effects in transition metal molecules and materials. According to the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, the award recognizes early-career faculty who have "an outstanding independent body of scholarship and are deeply committed to education." Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholars receive an unrestricted research grant of $100,000.

To a dynamicist like Amie Wilkinson, understanding the universe is about knowing all the right moves. Find out more on this podcast from Quanta Magazine.

Prof. Emeritus Victor Barcilon, applied mathematician and geophysical scientist, died April 15, 2020. A long-time professor at the University of Chicago, Barcilon showed a gift for using a type of mathematics called asymptotic analysis to improve understanding of the physical principles behind the world, from the mechanics of neurons to the behavior of oceans, glaciers and rock over time.
 

In a unique year, UChicago students find togetherness—apart. Students across majors joined astro professor Daniel Holz for “Are We Doomed?,” a class that uses readings and guest experts to inform different apocalyptic scenarios: nuclear war, climate change, artificial intelligence, and of course, pandemics and related biological issues.