News: Students

By applying chemicals to the skin, researchers from the University of Chicago have created a new form of haptics that make VR-experiences more real.

Remembering Albert Madansky, Statistics AB’52, SM’55, PhD’58, and longtime UChicago Booth professor who studied subjects ranging from nuclear war to behavioral science and pastrami.

This month PSD researchers have been featured for their efforts to determine why the Southern Hemisphere is stormier than the Nothern Hemisphere, explain how the HIV virus replicates itself, and gather and analyze data on the funding, location, and research status for more than 230 GMO crop varieties in Africa.

Alya Al-Kibbi, a first-year graduate student in the Department of the Geophysical Sciences studying planetary science, has been awarded a graduate fellowship from The Illinois Space Grant Consortium (ISGC).

Sixteen high school students expanded their view of what computer science is by participating in a “Make Your Own Wearables From Scratch” workshop hosted by the University of Chicago.

Mandy Chen was born and raised in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Before coming to UChicago she was studying at the University of Hong Kong, where she got bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics and astronomy. This is her fifth year as a PhD student in astronomy and astrophysics. Her research focuses on observations of the diffuse circumgalactic medium—the outermost envelopes of galaxies.

UChicago unveiled Polsky Deep Tech Ventures, a new $20m initiative offering accelerators, entrepreneurial training, and funding dedicated to supporting startups that bring world-changing science and technology to market.

UChicago has received a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) to create the Community Data Fellows program, which pairs local, community-based nonprofit organizations with UChicago graduate students (Fellows) who possess skills in technology and policy analysis.

Two postdocs, Yanzeng Li and Alexander Strang, have been named recipients of the 2022-2023 Suzuki Postdoctoral Fellowship Award. Yuji Suzuki, SM’70, a longtime supporter and former Council member of the Physical Sciences Division, established the Yuji and Lorraine Suzuki Postdoctoral Research Fund in 2016 to recognize outstanding postdoctoral researchers. The award provides a salary top-off.

Elizabeth Kelley, a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry, was honored with the 2023 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, which recognizes graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education and who are committed to academic innovation in the areas of equity, community engagement, and teaching and learning.

A $10m gift to UChicago from the Margot and Tom Pritzker Foundation will establish the Pritzker Plant Biology Center on the University’s Hyde Park campus. It will be led by Prof. Chuan He, Dept. of Chemistry, and will bolster efforts in investigating pathways promoting plant growth and crop yields to combat global problems like food supply, drought, and climate change.

This month PSD reserachers were featured in the news for their efforts to create an 'artificial photosynthesis' system, advance nanoparticle research to fight cancer, and describe cloudy atmospheres on explanets with the James Webb Space telescope.

Madison Brady was born in a rural town in Northeastern Ohio, an hour’s drive out of Cleveland. She lived there until she attended Caltech in Pasadena, CA, for undergrad, earning a BS in astrophysics. She is in her third year as a graduate student in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics. She is primarily interested in studying rocky planets around very small nearby stars (M dwarfs), which provide us with key information on the formation, composition, and evolution of planets like Earth.

University of Chicago computer science Ph.D. student Jas Brooks was interviewed by The Advocate for Pride in STEM Day, Nov. 18, for being a successful LGBTQ+ person in STEM.

The Highly Cited Researchers™ list from Clarivate™ identifies scientists and social scientists who have demonstrated significant influence through publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Ten PSD members made the 2022 list.