News: 2023

September

Three UChicago organic chemists have been selected for 2024 ACS national awards! 

September 8, 2023

Viresh Rawal, Guangbin Dong, Mark Levin

Congratulations to...
Viresh Rawal: ACS Award for Creative Work in Synthetic Organic Chemistry
Guangbin Dong: Elias J. Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator
Mark Levin: Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award


Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics welcomes Brinson Prize Fellow Daniel Gilman

September 8, 2023

Daniel Gilman

Congratulations to Daniel Gilman, who has been named a Brinson Prize Fellow at the University of Chicago in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics.


 


Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Women in STEM honors three PSD scientists

September 6, 2023

left to right: Marcela Carena, Wendy Freedman, and Angela Olinto

Congratulations to Prof. Marcela Carena, Prof. Wendy Freedman, and Dean of the Physical Sciences Division Angela Olinto! The three PSD scientists have been named Notable Women in STEM by Crain's Chicago Business.


NSF announces new award for the Synchrotron for Earth and Environmental Science facility

September 6, 2023

Tony Yu working in a lab

The NSF has awarded UChicago a $35 million contract to operate a new facility specializing in the application of a cyclic particle accelerator called synchrotron to Earth and environmental sciences.

Photo: Beamline scientist Tony Yu preparing an acoustic emission experiment for the 1000-ton multi-anvil press in the GSECARS 13-ID-D station.
Credit: Mark Rivers, University of Chicago


Women of Quantum Technology: Dr. Laura Gagliardi of the University of Chicago

September 6, 2023

Prof. Laura Gagliardi

"Quantum chemistry, a field that delves into the behavior and interactions of molecules and atoms at the quantum level, holds the key to unlocking a deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of our universe. By exploring the intricate world of quantum mechanics, scientists can make groundbreaking discoveries that have far-reaching implications in various scientific disciplines. One of these researchers is Dr. Laura Gagliardi, a chemistry and molecular engineering professor at the University of Chicago."

Read the rest at Inside Quantum Technology News.


Are we doomed?

September 5, 2023

artist's illustration of an asteroid

UChicago scholars--including PSD scientists Daniel Holz, Fred Ciesla, Robert Rosner, David Jablonski, and Elisabeth Moyer--contemplate the end of the world for an article in The Core, the College's alumni magazine.


Back to New Jersey, where the universe began

September 5, 2023

Simons Observatory in the Atacama Desert

In a NYT article, Prof. John Carlstrom comments on the Simons Observatory, saying that “as with any big project, it has many gates to get through before the construction funding is secure.”

Photo courtesy of UC San Diego


Scientists demonstrate new, improved way to make infrared light—with quantum dots

September 5, 2023

Xingyu Shen holds a device in a glass tube in Guyot-Sionnest's lab

New method from UChicago chemists, including Philippe Guyot-Sionnest, could lead to cost-effective sensors.

Photo by Jean Lachat


How Einstein, Oppenheimer and other scientists failed to convince Americans about controlling nuclear weapons

September 1, 2023

Cesare Emiliani and Harold Urey (right) in a lab.

Smithsonian Magazine article mentions the efforts of former UChicago president Robert Maynard Hutchins and Nobel Prize–winning chemist Harold Urey to convince the public to support global nuclear weapons control.

Photo: Researcher Cesare Emiliani and Harold Urey (right) in a lab. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, apf1-08449


August

Illinois universities seek EDA funding for cutting-edge tech

August 30, 2023

Chicago Quantum Exchange

Article highlights Innovate Illinois, a public-private coalition involving UChicago, and its efforts to build the state's "quantum economy."


Congratulations to Chuan He for winning the Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry!

August 29, 2023

Chuan He

Elsevier and the Board of Executive Editors of Elsevier’s Tetrahedron journal series are pleased to announce that the 2023 Tetrahedron Prize for Creativity in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry has been awarded to Professor Chuan He, Department of Chemistry, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Photo by Jason Smith


Argonne workshop connects teachers with data science for new approaches to learning

August 28, 2023

Scientist demonstrates a rainfall sensor

The three-week-long Data Science Institute for High School Teachers brought eight teachers together with staff members from Argonne. They met at Hyde Park Academy High School in Chicago, where they learned about computer science, experimented hands-on with coding tools, and practiced teaching data science to youth.

Photo by Argonne National Laboratory


UChicago researchers invent compact CRISPR systems to more easily edit genes

August 28, 2023

Weixin Tang in her lab, wearing safety glasses

A team of University of Chicago scientists led by chemist Weixin Tang has created new CRISPR systems that are smaller and can easily slip into cells—yet retain their potency.

Photo by Jason Smith


Hank Hoffmann named new chair for the University of Chicago’s Department of Computer Science

August 28, 2023

Hank Hoffman

Professor Hank Hoffmann has been appointed Chair for the Department of Computer Science beginning September 1, 2023. He will continue to serve over the next three years, building on the work laid out by the department’s current Liew Family Chair, Mike Franklin. In response to the announcement, Franklin wrote that he “couldn’t be more pleased about this choice.”


Melvin Rothenberg, pioneering UChicago mathematician in algebraic and geometric topology and activist, 1934–2023

August 28, 2023

Melvin Rothenberg

Melvin Gordon Rothenberg, a professor emeritus of mathematics who spent more than four decades making groundbreaking mathematical discoveries at the University of Chicago as well as teaching hundreds of students and contributing to social justice causes, died August 1, 2023. He was 89.