General News

For more than two decades, physicists have been preparing a search for the Higgs boson—the theoretical particle that provides mass to the basic building blocks of matter and the last missing ingredient of the Standard Model of particle physics. Discovery of the Higgs boson could help scientists answer questions surrounding what the Universe is made of, what forces act within it and what gives matter substance. More »

Professor Lucy Fortson, along with Nita Krevans, a professor in the Department of Classical and Near-Eastern Studies are the subject of a feature article in the current CLA Reach Magazine on the Ancient Lives project which uses citizen science to help decipher ancient manuscripts.

Professor Roger Rusack of the School of Physics and Astronomy was featured in an article in the Star Tribune about the Minnesota contributions to the effort to find the Higgs Boson.

Professor Jim Kakalios will be featured on the National Public Radio Program, Talk of the Nation Science Friday, on June 29th. Kakalios will discuss his role as adviser on the upcoming movie, The Amazing Spiderman. The program can be heard at 1:00 p.m., on KNOW, St. Paul. Kakalios stars in a University-produced video that explains the science behind the decay rate algorithm, a formula he invented for the film.

The 2012 Graduate Fellowship recipients are as follows: Tianran Chen, Anatoly Larkin Fellowship; Lee Wienkes and Meng-ru Wu recieved The Aneesur Rahman Award; Michael Schecter, Robert O. Pepin Fellowship; Yeonbae Lee, Hoff Lu Fellowship and Barun Dhar, Alex Ditter, Allison Kennedy, Ryo Namba, JJ Nelson, Ilana Percher and Zvie Razieli received Outstanding TA Awards. More »

The 2012 Undergraduate Scholarship recipients are as follows: Robin Heinonen, Alfred O.C. Nier Scholarsip; Noah Rebesch, Harry and Viola St. Cyr Scholarship; Andrew Emerick, J. Morris Blair Scholarship; Chelsey Dorow, Jeffrey Basford Scholarship; Charles Brown, Erwin Marquit and Doris Grieser Marquit Undergraduate Scholarship; Mitchell Ambrose, Brandon Bergerud, Anthony Kremin, Jonathan Morris, Joseph Redford and Nicholas Smith received the Edmond G. Franklin Scholarship; Jimmy Chen, Grant Remmen, Hagstrum Award.

On April 27, more than 250 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the NOvA far detector facility near the Ash River in northern Minnesota. On hand were Eric Kaler, President of the University of Minnesota, Pier Oddone, Director of Fermilab, Mos Kaveh, Associate Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota and Marvin L. Marshak, Director of the NOvA Ash River Laboratory. The 45 million dollar facility will be home to The NOvA far detector, which when complete, will be the largest plastic structure in the world. More »

Global energy needs are a major concern for our future. World-renowned MIT Professor Mildred Dresselhaus offers hope for the world energy outlook in her lecture “The Promise of Nanomaterials for Thermoelectric Applications” at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 26 at the Tate Laboratory of Physics, Room 150, The lecture is part of the annual Van Vleck Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public. It will also be streamed live. More »

Professor Allen Goldman of the School of Physics and Astronomy has won a 2012 Awards for Outstanding Contributions to Postbaccalaureate, Graduate and Professional Education. As part of this award Goldman was admitted to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers.

Professor Serge Rudaz of the School of Physics and Astronomy won the Horace T. Morse-University of Minnesota Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education. Rudaz will also be inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teachers as part of the award.