Summer 2022
WashU physicists recently completed construction on XL-Calibur, a new balloon-borne telescope designed to measure the polarization of high-energy X-rays.
Cells are the basic units of structure and function in all forms of life on Earth, from humans and animals to yeasts and bacteria. But a cell itself is made up of even smaller working pieces called organelles. Understanding how a cell commits resources to building new parts — and eventually divides into two cells — is the focus of a new grant for physicist Shankar Mukherji of Washington University in St. Louis.
Henric Krawczynski became Chair of the Department of Physics effective July 1, 2022. Henric replaced Mark Alford who led the department since 2012.
Saori Pastore has been named the inaugural Associate Chair of the Department of Physics effective July 1.
Nan Liu, research assistant professor of physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, is first author of a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that analyzes a di...
Scientists from Washington University in St. Louis are helping to recover gases from a container of lunar soil that astronauts collected and sealed under vacuum on the surface of the Moon in 1972. ...
Postdoctoral Research Associate Lorenzo Andreoli has been selected for the Universities Research Association's Visiting Scholars Program. He is working in the Quantum Monte Carlo Group for Nuclear Physics. Andreoli will spend 8 weeks at Fermilab to collaborate with Drs. Gardiner, Hobbs, and Betancourt on implementations of nuclear response functions in GENIE.
Graduate student Jason Bub is the recipient of a Summer 2022 BAND Fellowship. He is working in the Quantum Monte Carlo Group for Nuclear Physics. Bub will spend time this summer at Northwestern University and Ohio State University. The BAND collaboration began its efforts to build a Cyberinfrastructure Framework that will facilitate the Bayesian Analysis of Nuclear Dynamics.
Senior Abdullah Kuziez has received the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, which provides American students the opportunity to earn an advanced degree in the United Kingdom. Kuziez plans to earn a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Oxford as part of his ongoing search for cancer treatments that are both effective and accessible.
Senior Lauren Pusey-Nazzaro was selected for the National Science Foundation five-year Graduate Research Fellowship Program. He plans to attend graduate school at the University of Minnesota. The highly competitive Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes outstanding students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees.
The view from XL-Calibur
Black Hole
Elionix ELS-S50EX, an electron beam lithography system
PPC Conference
Professor of Physics Alexander Seidel has been promoted to Professor of Physics. Seidel is working on the theory of quantum many-body systems in condensed matter physics. His main interests lie in strongly correlated systems, where new phenomena emerge that cannot be understood even at a crude level without properly taking into account the interactions between particles.
Associate Professor of Physics Saori Pastore has been promoted to Associate Professor of Physics. Pastore’s research is focused on understanding how nuclear properties emerge from the underlying nucleonic dynamics, with the broader goal of contributing to ongoing experimental efforts in nuclear physics, fundamental symmetries, and neutrino physics. The dean’s letter makes special mention of Saori’s record of outstanding scholarship, work as a skilled and committed teacher, and service contributions.
Research Associate Professor of Physics Brian Rauch has been promoted to Research Associate Professor. Brian Rauch’s research focus is in cosmic ray astrophysics. He was involved in ultra-heavy galactic cosmic ray (UHGCR) research with the Trans-Iron Galactic Element Recorder (TIGER) experiment as an undergraduate and graduate student, with SuperTIGER as a postdoc and research scientist, and is now the Principal Investigator (PI) for SuperTIGER-II.
Teaching Professor Mairin Hynes has been promoted to Teaching Professor. Her research focuses on analyzing students’ conceptual understanding, problem-solving methods, and attitudes towards physics in order to enhance the Introductory Physics courses and laboratories.
Professor of Physics Professor Li Yang has been named to the Institute for Scientific Information’s list of Highly Cited Researchers for 2021.
Assistant Professor of Physics Manel Errando participated in a faculty panel discussion on creation and selection of course materials based on student access and affordability.
May 2022
