News: Faculty

2021

Duality quantum accelerator accepts six startups into inaugural cohort

July 14, 2021

illustration of wave-particle duality

Duality, a first-of-its-kind accelerator for quantum companies, has accepted into its inaugural cohort six startups from across the United States and abroad. The 12-month program will provide training from the University of Chicago, as well as opportunities from Duality’s other founding partners. Read more about the six startups who join with UChicago to unlock the potential of quantum technology.


Argonne, UChicago researchers create method to dramatically reduce data processing time for LIGO detections

July 13, 2021

Illustration of the collision of two black holes

Scientists at Argonne and UChicago used a new artificial intelligence framework that allows for accelerated, scalable and reproducible detection of gravitational waves. Ian Foster, the UChicago Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Computer Science and director of Argonne’s Data Science and Learning division, comments on their creation of a method to dramatically reduce data processing time for LIGO detections.


Largest-ever CDAC Summer Lab adds 55 students, new social impact track

July 13, 2021

The Center for Data and Computing Summer Lab logo, laid out in a square, with the letter A resembling a women scientist collecting data

Building the wide open future of data science requires bringing new students into the fold today. And at UChicago, for the third consecutive year, the Center for Data an Computing (CDAC) Summer Lab serves as one of those gateways. Welcoming 55 high school, undergraduate, and master’s students to serve as research assistants on projects with more than 39 mentors and adding a new “social impact” track, it’s the largest year yet for the program designed to train and inspire the next generation of interdisciplinary computational and data scientists.


Paul Alivisatos and Robert J. Zimmer receive named distinguished service professorships

July 1, 2021

Paul Alivisatos and Robert J. Zimmer

Incoming President Paul Alivisatos has been named the John D. MacArthur Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Chemistry, the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and the College, effective Sept. 1. President Robert J. Zimmer has been named the Edwin A. and Betty L. Bergman Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Mathematics and the College.


Postdoc Kate Smith receives IEEE Early Career Award in Microelectronics

July 1, 2021

Kate Smith, postdoc EPICq

Kate Smith, a postdoctoral researcher in the research group of Professor Fred Chong and the Chicago Quantum Exchange’s IBM Postdoctoral Trainees Program, received the Kenneth C. Smith Early Career Award in Microelectronics from the IEEE Computer Society, Technical Committee on Multiple-Valued Logic (IEEE TC MVL).


More cell phone data use is negatively affecting Wi-Fi performance, study finds

July 1, 2021

Student research sits at outside table with three laptops testing wifi

In a recent paper, University of Chicago researchers demonstrate how increased network competition from cell phone data use negatively impacts internet service for everyday Wi-Fi users. 
 


Could dark matter be behind mysterious, supermassive black holes in the early universe?

June 30, 2021

illustration of a supermassive black hole.

KICP Fellow Yi-Ming Zhong and scientists at UC Riverside have put forward a surprising theory to explain mysterious, supermassive black holes that formed early in the universe; those black holes could have formed with the help of dark matter.


The Hubble constant, explained

June 30, 2021

A star expanding, purple light emissions on black atmosphere

The Hubble constant is one of the most important numbers in cosmology because it tells us how fast the universe is expanding. Read about the debate surrounding it and meet Wendy Freedman and Daniel Holz, the UChicago astronomers leading the way.


‘There may not be a conflict after all’ in expanding universe debate

June 30, 2021

New analysis by astronomy professor Wendy Freedman finds agreement with standard model in ongoing Hubble tension.


PSD in the News - June 2021

June 28, 2021

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to transform plastics, electronics, and transportation, experiment with materials that can 'remember,' and contribute to the most precise look yet at the universe's evolution.


Physicist awarded grant as part of Simons Collaboration on Categorical Symmetries

June 24, 2021

Clay Cordova

Clay Córdova, Neubauer Family Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics, has been awarded a Simons Foundation grant as part of the Simons Collaboration on Categorical Symmetries. The collaboration, directed by Constantin Teleman of the University of California, Berkeley, is supported under the Simons Collaborations in Mathematics and Physical Sciences program, which aims to "stimulate progress on fundamental scientific questions of major importance in mathematics, theoretical physics and theoretical computer science."


Prof. Diana Franklin discusses the “big gaps” in computer science education

June 24, 2021

Headshot Diana Franklin

Prof. Diana Franklin discusses her research into how computer science curricula are used in school and the "big gaps" in learning with Education Next.


For the first time, researchers visualize metabolic process at the single-cell level

June 21, 2021

imaging of a cells breaking down glucose

A new imaging and machine learning technique developed at the University of Chicago allows scientists, including biophysics student Devin Harrison, to watch cells break down glucose, potentially leading to new methods for treating a wide array of diseases, including cancer and COVID-19.


From simple interactions to complex computations: UChicago scientist seeks a unifying theory of the brain

June 17, 2021

Brent Doiron

As a theorist with a background in physics, Prof. Brent Doiron models the brain, and the network of neurons that compose it, as a complex system where interactions among individual components produce activity in a group or system that can’t be explained by just looking at the components in isolation.


Chinese rover on Mars ushers in new space race

June 14, 2021

Today’s on-the-ground missions exploring Mars are helping Profs. Edwin Kite and colleagues obtain a more direct and complete understanding of the red planet. Prof. Rocky Kolb comments the US and Chinese space programs should collaborate as well as compete.