Several students in the Department of Physics and Astronomy were candidates for degrees at the University of Iowa Spring 2025 Commencement Ceremonies.

Three Physics and Astronomy students presented posters at the Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF) on April 3 at the University Capitol Centre.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy honored several students, faculty, and staff for their achievements on April 29 at the 2025 Awards Colloquium.

In this story from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arissa Khan tells about her work as an undergraduate student researcher on the Observing Cusp High-altitude Reconnection and Electrodynamics (OCHRE) Mission.

University of Iowa physicists have detailed interactions between magnetic field lines of the sun and Mars that may help explain how Mars turned from a warm, hospitable planet into a dry, cold, and hostile environment. Using orbital observations and evidence obtained from NASA rovers on the red planet’s surface, scientists know that billions of years ago Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere.

Join us April 23 at 5 pm CDT for this virtual webinar about TRACERS, a cutting-edge NASA satellite mission led by the University of Iowa. TRACERS will study the magnetic interactions between the sun and Earth, helping to unlock the mysteries of space weather.

Graduate student Brady Martin was named a recipient of the 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes teaching assistants who have demonstrated outstanding abilities at the University of Iowa.

The recently formed University of Iowa Ethics Bowl team, led by second-year physics and chemistry student Arissa Khan, bested 20 competing teams in the Midwest.

Yuanzheng Wen, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received an Outstanding Student Presentation Award for his talk at the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting Dec. 9-13, 2024 in Washington, DC.