2024
The University of Chicago, Chicago State University formalize partnership meant to grow collaborations, build inclusive pathways to emerging scientific fields
July 1, 2024

The University of Chicago and Chicago State University deepened their partnership Monday when the universities’ respective presidents, Paul Alivisatos and Zaldwaynaka “Z” Scott, signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement aims to strengthen mutually beneficial collaborations between the two institutions in the physical, social, biological, and data sciences with an emphasis on education, research, employment pathway programs, and civic engagement.
Unique data science partnership with City Colleges of Chicago offers rising professors, and their students, a more inclusive learning experience
July 1, 2024

The Preceptorship Program began in 2022 as part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the University and City Colleges. The partnership aims to strengthen STEM education and career opportunities and create a more diverse field of professionals entering the sciences.
Celebrating the legacy of Maria Goeppert Mayer
July 1, 2024

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Goeppert Mayer’s publication of the nuclear shell model. The 2024 Nuclear Structure Conference at Argonne will showcase recent experimental and theoretical advances and highlight Maria Goeppert Mayer's contribution to nuclear physics.
UChicago faculty members receive named, distinguished service professorships in 2024
July 1, 2024

Four Physical Sciences Division faculty members have received distinguished service professorships or named professorships. Congratulations, Profs. Archer, Farb, Kim, and Krishnan!
MIT ice flow study takes ‘big’ step towards understanding sea level rise, scientists say
June 27, 2024

Scientists have long known that melting glaciers contribute significantly to rising sea levels. However, the complex ways they move deep within are not fully understood, a process critical to understanding this melting. Two MIT researchers, including incoming GeoSci Asst. Prof. Meghana Ranganathan, have created the first usable model to analyze movements across the Antarctic Ice Sheet, looking at how ice flows in the glacier’s core.
Unlocking the future of AI: How CacheGen is revolutionizing large language models
June 26, 2024

CacheGen, developed by researchers from the University of Chicago, Stanford, and Microsoft, and led by UChicago computer scientist Junchen Jiang, promises to revolutionize LLM efficiency by addressing the critical challenge of processing long contexts.
UChicago scientists pioneer technique to visualize anti-ferroelectric materials
June 26, 2024

University of Chicago chemists in Sarah King's lab have announced a new way to image antiferroelectric materials, which could one day lead to new types of technology.
Aboard a drilling rig in the Mediterranean, scientists seek to understand Earth’s past climates
June 26, 2024

UChicago geologist Clara Blättler spent two months at sea extracting rock cores to recreate the history of climate.
Revived technology used to count individual photons from distant galaxies
June 26, 2024

Enabled by a U.S. Department of Energy program, a collaboration of scientists from Fermilab, UChicago, NOIRLab, and other institutions demonstrated that skipper-CCD detectors can be utilized to improve cosmology research.
Experiment aims to help battle rising heat
June 25, 2024

A CBS Saturday Morning video discusses a farmer participating in an unusual experiment to help a farm thrive in rising temperatures. GeoSci Asst. Prof. Clara Blättler comments, starting at 2:25.
Upgraded synchrotron starts up at Argonne National Laboratory
June 25, 2024

Lab heralds ‘new era of scientific discovery’ for everything from batteries to biology at Advanced Photon Source.
Light from darkness: Using photonic crystal cavities to build superconductors
June 24, 2024

Researchers at UChicago Pritzker Molecular Engineering and UChicago Physics plan to use a $1.5 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to develop an entirely new method of engineering superconductors for quantum computers and other high-tech applications.
These are the most beautiful equations, according to mathematicians
June 21, 2024

In this Scientific American article, mathematicians, including associate professor Ewain Gwynne, picked the most dazzling, thought-provoking, and compelling equations they know.
The University of Chicago’s new climate initiative
June 20, 2024

Brave research program or potentially dangerous foray into solar geoengineering? UChicago President Alivisatos and numerous PSD professors discuss the topic in this Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists article.
Meta has created a way to watermark AI-generated speech
June 20, 2024

The tool, called AudioSeal, could eventually help tackle the growing use of voice cloning tools for scams and misinformation. Computer scientist Ben Zhao discusses the system in this MIT Technology Review article.