News: 2026

Congratulations to Caroline Piaulet-Ghorayeb and Donald Stull, who have been named recipients of the 2025–2026 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.

Currently a postdoctoral researcher at JILA, Kai Li received his PhD in physics in 2023 under the mentorship of Professor Linda Young. Li has been awarded the 2026 EuXFEL Young Scientist Award, which aims to recognize outstanding contributions to research at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser by young researchers in the early stages of their career. We interviewed him about his research and his time at UChicago.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists announced on Jan. 27 that the hands of the Doomsday Clock moved forward four seconds and now sits at 85 seconds to midnight—citing expiring nuclear treaties, climate change, and AI and disinformation as among the major threats which have worsened in the past year.

Physics graduate student Ryohei Weil contributes to research that has verified four theoretical predictions regarding computational phases of matter. These contributions confirm the stability of quantum technology for scalability in the future. 

Atmospheric study finds surprises about our largest neighboring planet and its deep atmosphere.

Professor Giulia Galli of the Chemistry Department has shown that nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamonds can be used to improve certain quantum properties of qubits. 

David Keith believes geoengineering deserves serious consideration as a tool to combat climate change.

Questions for the cosmologist and former dean of the Physical Sciences Division, Edward W. "Rocky" Kolb.

In December, undergraduate Ranya Sharma was honored with a 2025 CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award—one of the highest recognitions for early-career computing research in North America. The award, presented by the Computing Research Association, acknowledges Ranya’s standout contributions to understanding how digital infrastructure shapes privacy, performance, and equity across the Internet.

The latest results combined weak lensing and galaxy clustering and incorporated four dark energy probes from a single experiment for the first time.

UChicago chemists gain insight into how a Parkinson’s-associated protein binds to membranes in the brain.

Researchers at the Center for AstroPhysical Surveys (CAPS) used the South Pole Telescope to probe one of the most complex regions of the sky.

UChicago biophysicists probe the mechanics of extremely thin films.

UChicago professor emeritus helped transform modern astronomy, mapped interstellar medium.

New leadership announced to guide the next phase of funding and construction.