News: Faculty

2021

Building molecules like Tinkertoys? A breakthrough study may pave the way

May 12, 2021

Balu Dherange and Kathleen Berger on either end of blackboard with a chemistry illustration in chalk

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.


Chemist named 2021 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

May 11, 2021

John Anderson

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.


Quanta podcast: Amie Wilkinson sees the dynamic chaos in puff pastry

May 7, 2021

Amie Willkinson

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.


Victor Barcilon, applied mathematician and geophysical scientist, 1939-2020

May 7, 2021

Victor Barcilon stands in front of a chalkboard where math equations are written

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 unique year, UChicago students find togetherness—apart

May 6, 2021

Image of Gather Town screen with UChicago students

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.


Physicists reveal how motion can be generated by frustration

May 3, 2021

An interdisciplinary team of UChicago physicists, including Michael Fruchart, Ryo Hanai, Peter Littlewood, and Vincenzo Vitelli, published a new theory for non-reciprocal matter in Nature. They describe how systems composed of many objects that have non-reciprocal interactions can evolve in surprising ways. This may underlie many phenomena we see around us, from neurons to bird flocks and quantum systems.


PSD in the News - April 2021

April 29, 2021

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to build a quantum bit that can search for dark matter, use muscle response for digital authentication, design 'nanotraps' to catch and clear coronavirus from tissue, and harness molecules into a single quantum state. 


In long-awaited breakthrough, physicists harness molecules into single quantum state

April 28, 2021

Prof. Cheng Chin in his laboratory at the University of Chicago, where his lab announced a breakthrough in bringing multiple molecules at once into a single quantum state—one of the most important goals in quantum physics.

In a long-awaited breakthrough, Prof. Cheng Chin and graduate students in the Department of Physics have harnessed molecules into a single quantum state —one of the most important goals in quantum physics.


UChicago scientists design ‘nanotraps’ to catch and clear coronavirus from tissue

April 28, 2021

A scanning electron microscope image of a nanotrap (orange) binding a simulated SARS-CoV-2 virus (dots in green).

UChicago scientists, including Assoc. Prof. Bozhi Tian of Chemistry, design ‘nanotraps’ to catch and clear coronavirus from tissue. The potential COVID-19 treatment pairs nanoparticles with immune system to search and destroy viruses.


Unlocking the secrets of Earth’s early atmosphere

April 28, 2021

An image of the sphere of Mars sliced and up against the sphere of Earth to illustrate differences in their atmospheres.

UChicago beamline scientists at the GeoSoilEnviroCARS facility housed at Argonne National Laboratory helped geologists unlock the secrets of Earth’s early atmosphere. The technique involves very small beams that can measure the exact composition of the atmosphere when Earth’s oldest rocks were formed.


Searching for the Universe’s most energetic particles, astronomers turn on the radio

April 27, 2021

An artist’s composite of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica

Graduate student Katrina Miller writes for Scientific American about astronomers, like Assoc. Prof. in physics Abigail Vieregg who works on IceCube, searching for the Universe’s most energetic particles by turning on the radio.


Icy clouds could have kept early Mars warm enough for rivers and lakes

April 27, 2021

Illustration of Mars Rover Perserverance

Planetary scientist Edwin Kite led a study finding icy clouds could have kept early Mars warm enough for rivers and lakes.


Laura Gagliardi and Angela Olinto elected to National Academy of Sciences

April 27, 2021

Laura Gagliardi and Angela Olinto, on a maroon background

Chemist Laura Gagliardi and astrophysicist and dean Angela Olinto elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.


Alivisatos has big shoes to fill—and he’s ready to fill them

April 26, 2021

Paul Alivisatos

UChicago’s incoming President Alivisatos is committed to supporting students from a broad array of backgrounds and to fostering a pride in academic inquiry in the same way President Zimmer has been. The Chicago Maroon on this and many other positive qualities he shares with the current president.


2021 Academy of Arts & Sciences

April 26, 2021

Amie Wilkinson, Benson Farb, Angela Olinto, and the

Pioneering mathematicians Amie Wilkinson and Benson Farb and astrophysicist and Dean of the Physical Sciences Angela Olinto have been elected to the 2021 American Academy of Arts & Sciences.