Alumni Scott Zoldi (Duke Physics, '98) was featured in APS News' Profiles in Versatility. Zoldi's advisor was Prof. Henry Greenside and since graduating has gone on to apply physics to finance. Read "FICO Scores with Chaos Theorist" here. read more about Alum Zoldi Featured on APS News »
Five Duke physics undergrads attended the American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (CUWiP), held at Virginia Tech this year for the Southeast region. Photo on right: l-r, Kaitlin McCreery, Prof. Kate Scholberg, Megan Conroy, Isabel Avery, Tianji Cai, Yuqi Yun Prof. Kate Scholberg is Chair of the National Organizing Committee for this conference and gave a talk about neutrinos. Yuqi Yun and Tianji Cai presented… read more about Duke Physics at CUWiP 2017 »
The Physics Department held their annual holiday party on December 14th at the Doris Duke Center. Sage & Swift provided catering and more than 125 Physics faculty, staff, researchers, students, and family attended. Thank you for a fun evening! We look forward to next year. read more about Physics Holiday Party 2016 »
Prof. Jian-Guo Liu was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society for his contributions to the analysis of numerical methods for fluid dynamics, kinetic theory, and nonlinear partial differential equations. Congratulations! read more about Prof. Liu Named Fellow of AMS »
Science online published an article focusing on the work of Prof. Jungsang Kim. Read "Scientists are close to building a quantum computer that can beat a conventional one" online here and in print beginning December 2. read more about Prof. Kim Focus in Science »
When Ben Cerio, PhD ’15, came to Duke Physics as a graduate student, he imagined he would eventually become a physics professor. Instead, he’s a data scientist, a job the Harvard Business Review in 2012 called “the sexiest job of the 21st century.” Cerio works at a startup in San Francisco called DoubleDutch, which produces an app that attendees can use during conferences and other events to make a schedule, network with other attendees, comment on sessions, and participate in surveys. Although Cerio’s… read more about Ben Cerio: From Physicist to Data Scientist »
The Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory (TUNL) has a new director. On July 1, Duke professor Calvin Howell passed the baton to UNC professor Art Champagne, who is the William C. Friday Professor of Physics at UNC-Chapel Hill. Howell says Champagne has all the characteristics of a successful TUNL director: “He’s a leading scientist, an active researcher, and a great steward and investor in the research infrastructure of TUNL.” Champagne is the first non-Duke professor to lead TUNL,… read more about New TUNL Director Art Champagne Looks to the Future »
Prof. Henry Everitt has been named a 2016 American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow in the physics section. There were three more fellows from Duke this year, one from Biology (John Franklin Rawls) and two in the Medical School (Jane F. Pendergast and Joe Brice Weinberg). See the full AAAS announcement online here. Congratulations! 12/1/16 Update: The U.S. Army has released an announcement about Prof. Everitt's acheivement with background about his work. Read "Army physicist named… read more about Prof. Everitt Named 2016 AAAS Fellow »
Congratulations to Prof. Maiken Mikkelsen! The APS announced she will be receiving the Maria Goeppert-Mayer award "For the demonstration of outstanding potential in the field of quantum nanophotonics." See the APS announcement on their website here. read more about Prof. Mikkelsen Recipient of Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award »
Kristen Collar and her colleagues from last spring’s Emerging Leaders Institute have recently published a blog post ("Re-envisioning Mental Health at Duke University") about their team project on The Graduate School’s Professional Development Blog. As the post mentions, Kristen and her team shared the report they compiled with key campus leaders. read more about Graduate Student Kristen Collar Contributes to Grad School's Blog »
Hersh Singh and William Steinhardt have been awarded the 2016 Mary Creason Memorial Award for Undergraduate Teaching. This award was established to honor students who excel in teaching physics in the Introductory Physics Laboratories at Duke. Singh and Steinhardt were recognized certificates at the Physics Department annual picnic on Saturday, August 27, 2016. They also shared a monetary sum that comes with the award.… read more about 2016 Graduate Student Awards »
We celebrate the life of Professor Emeritus J. Horst Meyer who died August 14 from cancer. Horst was a member of the Physics Department at Duke University for 57 years, and we remember him for his many contributions to Duke University and beyond. He was a highly recognized expert in low temperature physics. He mentored 50 Ph.D. students during his career, including 12 Fellows of the American Physical Society, two members of the National Academy of Sciences and one Nobel laureate. He was intensely interested… read more about The Passing of Prof. Emeritus Horst Meyer »
Prof. Al Goshaw's team at CERN was featured on Duke Research Blog. Click here to read the article "LHC Reveals No New Physics Yet, but Duke Scientists Stay the Hunt." read more about Prof. Goshaw's Team Featured on Duke Research Blog »
The Behringer Lab has been the science home for high school and undergraduate students over the years. Last year, high school students Meredith Cox, Kevin Liu, and Matthew Zheng, and undergrad Melody Lim actively participated in research in the Behringer lab, where each carried out their own research experiments, with mentoring from Ph.D. students and post-docs in the group. This summer’s group, pictured at right, include Meredith Cox, and in addition, visiting scholar Ding Jingqiu, Noah… read more about Behringer Lab Update »
Prof. Hugh Robinson, a emeritus member of the Physics Department, made the June 29th issue of The Herald-Sun recently for his beautiful paper creations. He uses a variety of techniques, as in the pictures seen here. For Hugh, this is a form of design, engineering, and creativity that reflects a lifetime interest in making things work. Many of these, such as the tractor pictured on left are completely articulated. read more about Prof. Robinson Features Paper Creations »
The American Physical Society March Meeting was held this year in Baltimore MD. This is a regular meeting for the entire Behringer Lab group, and everyone has the opportunity to present a talk. This year, we had an additional distinction: the logo for the meeting, which appeared throughout the meeting site at the Baltimore Convention site and on posters, was an artist’s rendition of our work, with our collaborator, Prof. Bulbul Chakraborty of Brandeis University. The logo, shown below, is based on a novel way to represent… read more about Members of Behringer Lab Provide Logo for APS March Meeting »
With a heavy heart, we relay the sad news received during the weekend regarding the passing of Prof. John Madey in Hawaii. He passed away on July 5, 2016. Professor Madey was a pioneer in the FEL research, and a prominent, world-class physicist. He was the founding director of the Duke FEL laboratory. From 1988, for a decade, he led the development of the Duke storage ring and various light source projects at the lab. John is survived by his son Andrew and his brother Julius M.J. Madey. A card will be… read more about The Passing of Prof. John Madey »
Prof. Sara Haravifard has been elected to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Spallation Neutron Source and High Flux Isotope Reactor User Group Executive Committee (SHUG EC) & the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory Users Advisory Committee (NHMFL UAC). Additionally, Haravifard's recent work has been published in Nature Communications. Read "Crystallization of spin superlattices with pressure and field in the layered magnet SrCu2(BO3)2" online here. She was also featured as Science Highlight on the… read more about News from Prof. Haravifard »
Effective July 1, 2016, Prof. Stephen Teitsworth has been appointed to a three-year term as Director of Graduate Studies in the Physics Department. read more about Stephen Teitsworth Announced as New Director of Graduate Studies »
On June 24, 2016, Provost Sally Kornbluth announced that Prof. Arthur (Art) Champagne of UNC-Chapel Hill, and now an Adjunct Professor of Physics, will become the new Director of the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratories (TUNL) effective July 1. Provost Kornbluth's announcement is below:I am pleased to announce that Arthur (Art) Champagne will be the next Director of TUNL. Professor Champagne joined the physics department faculty at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel in 1990.… read more about Art Champagne Announced as New Director of TUNL »
Physics undergraduates Ifeanyi Achu, Hannah Glaser, Spencer Griswold, Emily Stump, Wei Tang, and Elisa Zhang were featured on Duke Research Blog. Read the article "Fledgling Physicists Embark for the LHC" here. read more about Undergraduates Featured on Duke Research Blog »
Duke Physics graduate student Douglas Davis (advisor: Prof. Mark Kruse) was interviewed for Duke Research Blog about the LHC restart. See the story "LHC Reboot Promises Piles of New Data for Duke Physicists" here. read more about Grad Student Davis Featured on Duke Research Blog »
Graduate student Xuefei Yan (advisor: Prof. Haiyan Gao) is among the winners of the 2016/2017 Jefferson Science Associates (JSA) graduate fellowship for research at Jefferson Lab. View the press release here. Congratulations, Xuefei! read more about Graduate Student Yan Receives JSA Graduate Fellowship »
Prof. Emeritus Moo Young Han has passed away on May 15, 2016 at the age of 81 here in Durham, NC. Prof. Han was a dedicated member of the Physics Department and beloved by students. Our condolences to his family. Some of Prof. Han’s important contributions to physics are outlined in his obituary in The Herald-Sun: "Dr. Han is best known for his groundbreaking discovery of the hidden symmetry of quarks, the basic building blocks of protons and neutrons that make up atomic nuclei. In 1965, he… read more about Prof. Emeritus Moo Young Han Has Passed Away »
Graduate students Connor Awe and Samuel Hedges were awarded the Consortium for Non-Proliferation Enabling Capabilities (CNEC) fellowship. Prof. Phillip Barbeau is advisor to both students. The fellowships will begin in the fall of 2016. More information about CNEC's fellowship can be read here. Congratulations! read more about Grad Students Awe and Hedges Awarded CNEC Fellowships »
New members of the National Honor Society for Physics Students were inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma during the Undergraduate Poster Session held this Monday, April 25, 2016. The new SPS members are: Miguel Anderson, Tianjin Cai, Hao Geng, Emily Kuhn, Tamra Nebabu, Ji Won Park, Bejamin Suh, and Fan Zhang. Pictured below from left to right are: Tianjin Cai, Hao Geng, Emily Kuhn, Ji Won Park, and… read more about 2016 Sigma Pi Sigma Inductees »
The annual Undergraduate Poster Session was held on Monday, April 25, 2016. Four poster prizes were awarded for First Place: Katrina Miller, Second Place: Emily Kuhn, and a tie for Third Place went to Connor Hann and Matthew Olson. Congratulations to the winners and all participants for their hard work and dedication this year. Please click the image below to view the program from the event. More photos from the… read more about 2016 Undergraduate Poster Session Prize Winners »
Three faculty members in the Physics Department have been recognized for 2016 Scholarly Achievements: Teaching, Leadership, Mentoring & Diversity Awards Henry Greenside: David & Janet Vaughan Brooks Award Calvin Howell: The Dean’s Diversity Award Fellowships Patrick Charbonneau received an award from the Simons Foundation to better understand the structure and formation of glasses. Congratulations! Read the DukeToday story "Honoring Teaching,… read more about 2016 Scholarly Achievements »
Prof. Emeritus Werner Tornow has followed an invitation to Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan to celebrate the Breakthrough in Fundamental Physics Prize awarded to Prof. Atsuto Suzuki and to the other members of the KamLAND Collaboration who co-authored the first KamLAND publication (DOI), and share their prize money. This was Prof. Tornow’s second trip to Japan within two months. The picture shows Prof. Atsuto Suzuki at the center and Prof. Tornow on the right side of the first row, together with other… read more about Prof. Tornow Attends Award Celebration in Japan »
Prof. Chiho Nonaka of Nagoya University will spend a one-year sabbatical in the Physics Department as a Senior Research Scientist working with Prof. Steffen A. Bass. Nonaka was a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the QCD group from 2002 to 2005. Prof. Hannah Petersen, now at Frankfurt University was awarded the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize by the DFG (German National Science Foundation). Is the most important prize for early career researchers in Germany. For more information on this prize, click here.… read more about Updates from Former QCD Group Members »