The Department of Physics and the Department of Math held their annual diploma ceremony and luncheon on Sunday, May 14, 2017. In attendance were 325 graduates, faculty, family, and friends. Photos of the event can be viewed on our Flickr site here. See the event program here and Prof. and Chair Warren S. Warren's speech may be read here. Congratulations to the Class of 2017! read more about Graduation 2017 »
Undergraduate major Tamra Nebabu has been featured in a Senior Profile as part of Duke Today's "Senior Stories, Class of 2017 Series." Nebabu double majors in Physics and Electrical & Computer Engineering, works with Prof. Maiken Mikkelsen, and will graduate this weekend. Of her time at Duke, she said "Duke is the place where I discovered my passion for physics, found inspiration in my professors and mentors, and made lifelong friends." Read the full article "Tamra Nebabu:… read more about Undergraduate Nebabu Featured in a Duke Today Senior Profile »
Prof. Patrick Charbonneau has been named one of the 2016 “Journal of Chemical Physics” top reviewers in recognition of outstanding service and dedication to the journal. The criteria used to evaluate reviewer performance included quality, timeliness, number of reviews, and reliability. Congratulations to Prof. Charbonneau. read more about Prof. Charbonneau Named Top Reviewer for Journal of Chemical Physics »
Prof. David Beratan has received the American Chemical Society's Southeastern Region's 2017 Florida Award. He was recognized for his outstanding contributions to theoretical biophysics and biophysical chemistry, along with major impacts in teaching and service to the larger chemistry community. Beratan is the R. J. Reynolds Professor of Chemistry. Read more here. read more about Prof. Beratan Wins Regional ACS Award »
Prof. and Chair Warren S. Warren has been awarded the 2017 Liversidge Award from the Royal Society of Chemistry. The Liversidge Award is given biannually in recognition of oustanding contributions to physical chemistry. Warren is acknowledged specifically for pioneering the use of nonlinear optical imaging to extract molecular information. Please find the RSC announcement here and history of the Liversidge Award here. Duke Today also featured this news. Read the article is online here. read more about Prof. Warren Awarded 2017 Liversidge Award »
Last fall Prof. Berndt Mueller was filmed at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory for the Science Channel's documentary series Space's Deepest Secrets. The interview is now available and Prof. Mueller can be seen in Season 2, Episode 3 "Black Holes: The Einstein Prophecy." Watch it on Amazon Prime here or with your SciGo login here. read more about Prof. Mueller Interviewed for Science Channel Documentary Series Space's Deepest Secrets »
New members of the National Honor Society for Physics Students were inducted into Sigma Pi Sigma during the Undergraduate Poster Session held Tuesday, April 25. The new SPS members are: Jordan Fleming, Craig Madrak, Kaitlin McCreery, Jeong Min Park, Wei Tang, Yuqi Yun, and Tianqing Zhang. Pictured below from left to right are: Tianqing Zhang, Kaitlin McCreery, Craig Madrak, Jeong Min Park, Wei Tang… read more about 2017 Sigma Pi Sigma Inductees »
The 2017 winner of the Daphne Chang Memorial Award for excellent in undergraduate research is Tianji Cai (in photo, on right). A certificate for this award was presented to Cai by Director of Undergraduate Students Prof. Kate Scholberg during the Undergraduate Student Research Poster Session on Tuesday, April 25. Read more about Daphne Chang and this distinguished award begun in her memory here. read more about Tianji Cai: 2017 Daphne Chang Memorial Awardee »
The 2017 undergraduate poster session was held on April 26th. Prizes were given for the top three posters: Kaitlin McCreery won first place, Ji Won Park won second place, and Matt Tobin won third place. See all of the posters with their presenters on Flickr here. (Photos: On right, Kaitlin McCreery presenting her first place poster; On left/top, Ji Won Park discusses her poster with Prof. Harold Baranger. Park won second place for her poster; On left/bottom, Matt… read more about 2017 Undergraduate Poster Session »
Prof. Kate Scholberg has been referenced in an article about Alison Roeth, a 2017 Goldwater Scholar from the University of Oklahoma. Roeth has worked with Scholberg on supernova neutrino research. View the story online here. read more about Prof. Scholberg Worked with 2017 Goldwater Scholar »
The GERDA experiment in Italy has reported on their background-free search for neutrinoless double beta decay. Prof. Phil Barbeau, of the Duke Physics Department and the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory, explains in Nature News and Views what the implications of a positive search could mean, and describes the prospects of future searches with GERDA and other experiments. Read "Particle physics: The search for no netrinos" online here. read more about Assistant Prof. Barbeau Explains in Nature News and Views Why a Recent Search for No Neutrinos is So Exciting »
Prof. Ayana Arce participated in a March 23rd panel discussion "Hidden Figures No More: Highlighting Phenomenal Women in STEM," inspired by the new film Hidden Figures. Duke Research Blog covered the event. Click here to read "Hidden No More: Women in STEM reflect on their Journeys" with quotes from Prof. Arce and five more African-American women faculty from Duke. Photo: Prof. Arce (right) and Dean Valerie Ashby contributing to the panel | Photo credit: Chris Hildreth, Duke… read more about Prof. Arce Participates in Panel Discussing African-American Women in STEM »
Senior Physics major Akhil Ghanta attended the American Physical Society March Meeting and delivered a talk titled "Quantitative characterization of detailed balance breaking in linear noise-driven dynamical systems" in the session on General Statistical and Nonlinear Physics. Ghanta has worked with Prof. Stephen Teitsworth for the past two years on theoretical and computational study of far-from-equilibrium noise-driven dynamical systems. read more about Undergraduate Ghanta Delivers Talk at APS March Meeting »
Graduate student Margaret Shea’s poster “The atomic AC-Stark shifts in an optical dipole trap” won first place in the student poster competition at the Fitzpatrick Institute of Photonics 2017 Annual Symposium. Shea's poster detailed work she has done with Prof. Daniel Gauthier on developing single neutral atoms as a platform for quantum computing protocols. Her calculations of the light-induced shifts in her trap are critical for implementing optimal control of the trapped atom’s quantum… read more about Graduate Student Shea Wins FIP Annual Symposium Poster Award »
High Energy Physics graduate student David Bjergaard successfully defended his dissertation on Friday, March 24, 2017. Bjergaard's advisor is Prof. Ayana Arce. Congratulations to David! read more about Bjergaard Defends Dissertation »
Undergraduate student Kaitlin McCreery received the Physics Undergraduate Research Award which helped her to travel to the American Physics Society's March Meeting. At the Meeting, she presented a poster "Measurement of resistance switching dynamics in copper sulfide memristor structures" that she worked on with fellow undergrad Matthew Olson and Prof. Stephen Teitsworth. read more about Undergraduate McCreery Attends APS March Meeting »
Prof. Henry Everitt was featured on Duke Today in the article "Light-Driven Reaction Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel". 3/1/17 Update: This news has received coverage from other outlets as well. Click on the links to visit The Engineer, NSF Science 360 News, CleanTechnica, and Impronta Unika. read more about Prof. Everitt Featured on Duke Today »
Work done by the Haravifard Group has been featured in the first issue of National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's new magazine fields. Read the article "From Frustration to Discovery" here. read more about Haravifard Group Featured in fields magazine »
Prof. Henry Greenside received an "Outstanding Referee Award" for 2017 from the American Physical Society for outstanding refereeing of manuscripts submitted to APS journals. The APS recognizes only a small number of people (150) each year out of the 60,000 active physics referees. Other Duke Physics faculty to receive this award were Harold Baranger in 2016, Steffen A. Bass in 2015, Henry Weller in 2013, Daniel Gauthier in 2010, and… read more about Prof. Greenside Received 2017 Outstanding Referee Award from APS »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »