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Faculty Highlights
Condensed Matter Experiment
Quantum Information Science

Spotlight on new faculty: Angela Kou, Condensed Matter

Faculty Highlights
Quantum Information Science

Spotlight on new faculty: Wolfgang Pfaff, Quantum Physics

Outreach
Biological Physics

Illinois Physics Professor Jun Song's under-represented student training program renewed for 5 more years

Alumni News

Alumna Laura Niklason elected to National Academy of Engineering

Accolades
Condensed Matter Physics

Bradlyn one of two Illinois faculty members named Sloan Research Fellows

Research
Condensed Matter Physics

Strange metal charge is localized in both space and time

News

Accolades
Biological Physics

Selvin wins 2020 Gregorio Weber Award for Excellence in Fluorescence Theory and Applications

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Physics Professor Paul Selvin has been awarded the 2020 Gregorio Weber Award for Excellence in Fluorescence Theory and Applications of the Biological Fluorescence Subgroup of the Biophysical Society. The award is endowed by the ISS (Instrumenzione Scientificia Sperimentale). ISS, located in Champaign, IL, designs and manufactures highly sensitive fluorescence and biomedical instrumentation for research, clinical, and industrial applications.

Named for Illinois Biochemistry Professor Gregorio Weber, a pioneer in the development of both the theory and the application of fluorescence techniques in biology and biochemistry, this award recognizes distinguished individuals who have made original and significant contributions to the field of fluorescence.

Selvin has developed ground-breaking fluorescence instrumentation and techniques at the intersection of physics and biochemistry, shedding new light on the properties and behaviors of biomolecules in living cells. Early in his career, he devised the lanthanide resonance energy transfer (LRET) technique to investigate the chemical properties and structural dynamics of DNA systems. The LRET technique, which offered a 100-fold improvement in signal-to-background resolution over conventional techniques, is now widely used by the pharmaceutical industry for drug discovery.

Research
Condensed Matter Physics

Exotic new topological state discovered in Dirac semimetals

An international team of scientists has discovered an exotic new form of topological state in a large class of 3D semi-metallic crystals called Dirac semimetals. The researchers developed extensive mathematical machinery to bridge the gap between theoretical models with forms of “higher-order” topology (topology that manifests only at the boundary of a boundary) and the physical behavior of electrons in real materials.

Alumni News

Illinois Physics alumnus Austin Gerig Named as SEC's Chief Data Officer

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that it has named Austin Gerig as its Chief Data Officer. Dr. Gerig, currently Assistant Director of the Office of Data Science in the Division of Economic and Risk Analysis (DERA), will assume his new position on Feb. 3.

The Chief Data Officer will help develop the SEC’s data management strategy and priorities, enable data analytics to support enforcement, examinations, and policymaking, and ensure that the agency collects only the data it needs to fulfill its mission and can effectively secure.

Alumni News

In Stanford News : "Once a physics teacher in the Navy, now a 'car guy' at Stanford"

As John Alsterda neared the end of his assignment at the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear Power School in South Carolina, he decided it was time to pursue his dream of earning a doctorate.Initially, he planned to study nuclear engineering.

But Alsterda changed course after watching a self-driving coupe named Shelley zip around a racetrack at 120 mph in a video published by the Dynamic Design Lab, which is part of the Mechanical Engineering Department in Stanford’s School of Engineering

In the Media
Student News
Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics
Quantum Information Science

Doctoral student Karmela Padavic-Callaghan authors piece in Scientific American blog

When it comes to furthering our overall understanding of the physical world, ultracold quantum gases are awfully promising. As the famous physicist Richard Feynman argued, to fully understand nature, we need quantum means of simulation and computation. Ultracold atomic systems have, in the last 30 years, proven to be amazing quantum simulators. The number of applications for these systems as such simulators is nothing short of overwhelming, ranging from engineering artificial crystals to providing new platforms for quantum computing. In its brief history, ultracold atomic experimental research has enhanced physicists’ understanding of a truly vast array of important phenomena.

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donor stories

Alumnus gift continues legacy of excellence at Illinois Physics

“We deeply appreciate Gary Kelly’s generosity and his investment in our department’s core missions of research, teaching, and outreach,” comments Head of Department and Professor Matthias Grosse Perdekamp. “Unrestricted funds such as these are applied where they will make the greatest impact. Through his generosity, Gary Kelly’s legacy at Illinois will include his support of important new opportunities directly in line with our core missions. A large portion of Gary’s gift will support the research of exceptional women faculty early in their careers, enabling Illinois Physics to attract and retain promising women physicists.”

Engineering Visionary Scholarships

Give to the Engineering Visionary Scholarship. EVS attracts the brightest students, ensures a diverse and talented class, and helps reduce student debt.

“The relief of financial burden this scholarship has lifted from my family’s shoulders is truly a priceless gift, and the generosity of donors that have made this possible inspires me to want to give others this same gift of relief, security, and most of all educational opportunity, as it has done for me.”

— Sara Shahid, Engineering Physics Class of '22, EVS Scholarship recipient

Learn more

Watch the Center for the Physics of Living Cells video

The Center for the Physics of Living Cells is an NSF Physics Frontiers Center. In true "Urbana style," theoretical and experimental scientists collaborating at the CPLC are elucidating the fundamental processes at the core of life in quantitative physical detail. The CPLC Summer School is world renowned for its training of young scientists in leading-edge research methods, advancing this interdisciplinary physics frontier.

Why choose Illinois Physics? Here's a video!

Are you ready to study the glow of black holes? Or how superconductors can carry electricity without resistance? Physics opens the secrets of the universe. Illinois has a long tradition of excellence in physics, and we continue to advance the frontiers of science every day. Watch the video!