Jacqueline McShan, a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received an Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) Graduate Fellowship for a research project entitled “Calibrating RR Lyrae Stellar Parameters." McShan is working with Assistant Professor David Nataf on the project. The main goal of this endeavor is to find the zero-point anchor for metal-poor RR Lyrae by correlating their observed metallicities from spectral data with their predicted metallicities from their photometric light curves.

The University of Iowa has won nearly $1.5 million to expand its materials science center and to explore new ways to leverage materials for quantum technologies. The award from the U.S. Department of Defense will unite researchers in chemistry, engineering, and physics to investigate which materials can be combined to build light- or electronic-based quantum systems. Ravitej Uppu, John Prineas, and Thomas Folland are co-principal investigators on the award.

Several Department of Physics and Astronomy students were candidates for degrees at the University of Iowa Fall Commencement ceremonies on December 19 and 21.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded a $1.3 million grant to James Wetzel—University of Iowa Physics and Astronomy alumnus and Coe College Adjunct Assistant Research Professor— for the development of novel calorimeter prototypes using never-before-tested materials. UI Professor Yasar Onel is receiving a $325,000 subaward to support the University of Iowa’s contribution to this research.

John Silva, a graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received an Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) Graduate Fellowship for a project that will measure precise and accurate ages for millions of nearby subgiant stars, enabling a robust reconstruction of the Milky Way’s star formation and chemical evolution.

Lillian Daneshmand, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received an Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) Graduate Fellowship for a project that will study chorus wave modulation during pulsating aurora events.

University of Iowa researchers Denis Candido and Michael Flatté, along with researchers from the University of Chicago, have developed a framework that could yield more accurate readings of the inner workings of cells via quantum sensors.

Jacob Payne, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, has received an Iowa Space Grant Consortium (ISGC) Graduate Fellowship.

University of Iowa researchers Ravi Uppu and Matthew Nelson have discovered a method to “purify” photons, an advance that could make optical quantum technologies more efficient and more secure.

Assistant Professor Matheus Hostert was interviewed by The New York Times about experiments about neutrinos.