General News

Professor Bob Lysak of the School of Physics and Astronomy was selected as a 2011 Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).To be elected a Fellow of AGU is a special tribute for those who have made exceptional scientific contributions. Nominated Fellows must have attained acknowledged eminence in the Earth and space sciences. This designation is conferred upon not more than 0.1% of all AGU members in any given year. New Fellows are chosen by a Committee of Fellows.

Zijun (Jimmy) Chen, a junior majoring in mathematics and physics in the College of Science and Engineering, has been named a 2011 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. Chen plans to pursue a doctorate in condensed matter physics. Under the direction of professor E. D. Dahlberg, Chen has conducted research on a variety of projects at the Magnetic Microscopy Center, including water deformation due to diamagnetism, quantification of magnetic force microscopy and domain wall pinning in permalloy nanowires. More »

Professor Allen Goldman has been made Chair-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Physics Section. He has also been appointed to the Department of Energy's Basic Energy Science Advisory Committee(BESAC).

At its 217th semi-annual meeting held in Seattle this January, the American Astronomical Society (AAS) named Grant Remmen, a student in the University Honors Program and a triple major in astrophysics, physics, and mathematics, as a recipient of the Chambliss Astronomy Achievement Student Award. More »

Anton Zeilinger, a pioneer in the field of Quantum Information will deliver the 35th John and Abigail Van Vleck Lecture. He will speak on the topic of "Quantum Games, Quantum Information, and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" on Thursday March 10th at 5:00 p.m. in Room 150, Tate Laboratory of Physics. More »

[http://www.physics.umn.edu/outreach/reu/reuapp.html|Applications] are now being accepted for the 2011 Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Program. The deadline is February 11, 2011. The 2011 REU program will run from Monday, June 6, 2011 to Friday, August 12, 2011.

The Physics Force will present their annual Physics Circus for area school children. The performances will be held at The Minneapolis Convention Center on February 7 - 11, 2011. The Physics Force will also perform The Physics Circus on Thursday, February 10 at 7 PM for other students and the public; it is free. More »

Professor Cynthia Cattell of the School of Physics and Astronomy was selected as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Cattell was nominated by the APS Topical Group in Plasma Astrophysics with the citation "For measurements of solitary waves and electric fields in the Earth's radiation belts and for observation and interpretation of the very large amplitude whistler mode waves that provide a new mechanism for accelerating trapped electrons to relativistic energies in a fraction of a second. More »

Professor Michel Janssen of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS). Janssen's Fellowship was recommended by the APS Forum on the History of Physics, with the citation "For path-breaking contributions to the history of early twentieth-century physics, for excellent editorial work on Einstein papers, and for promoting substantive interactions between physicists and historians. More »

On November 3, 2010 the late Professor Alfred O. C. Nier was inducted into the Minnesota Science and Technology Hall of Fame. Nier was honored for his development and application of mass spectrometry, which most famously included isolating the first pure sample of the fissionable isotope Uranium-235 in Tate Lab in 1940. A St. Paul native, Nier was a University of Minnesota alumnus (Ph.D., Physics - 1936), a faculty member for more than forty years, and physics chair from 1953 until 1965. More »