News

Faculty and Staff: Submit grant awards, honors, research publications, accepted talks, and other news items through the Physics and Astronomy Faculty and Staff News Form.

Griffin, Grover Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award winners

Griffin, Grover To Receive Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards

Monday, April 1, 2024
The University of Iowa Council on Teaching has selected Graduate Students Philip Griffin and Tyler Grover to receive 2023-2024 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards. The award recognizes teaching assistants who have demonstrated outstanding abilities at the University of Iowa.

Iowa Now: Uppu Earns National Science Foundation grant

A University of Iowa condensed matter and materials physicist has been named a National Science Foundation CAREER scholar, an award given to early-career faculty for research and education. Ravitej Uppu, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, will explore the electronic and photonic properties of light-matter interactions at the single-emitter level, enabling the generation of multi-photon entangled states of light.

Miller Granted Patent for “Therapeutic Systems Using Magnetic Fields”

Friday, March 29, 2024
Mike Miller, a design engineer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was part of a University of Iowa team that was recently granted a patent titled “Therapeutic Systems Using Magnetic Fields.”
Allison Jaynes in front of Van Allen Hall sign

Jaynes Awarded Grant to Study Impact of Space Precipitation in Upper Atmospheres

Friday, March 22, 2024
Associate Professor Allison Jaynes has been awarded a grant from NASA to conduct studies to better understand auroral particle energy input into the ionosphere, thermosphere, and mesosphere. This work is being done as part of the Space Weather Operational Readiness Development (SWORD) project, led by Tom Berger at the University of Colorado Boulder. SWORD is one of three Space Weather Centers of Excellence recently selected by NASA.
Joseph Westlake of NASA shakes hands with UI President Barbara Wilson

NASA touches down in Iowa to talk TRACERS

Delegates from NASA recently visited the UI to learn more about the TRACERS program, the largest externally funded research project in institutional history. Launching in April 2025, the mission will study interactions between the sun and the Earth that create the Northern and Southern lights.
Vince Rodgers and Dale Stille do science demo with vacuum and beachballs

Demo Show Makes Science Fun!

Tuesday, March 19, 2024
The Department of Physics and Astronomy presented Demos Unleashed 2024 on March 15 at Van Allen Hall. This interactive show combined thrilling experiments with dazzling astronomical displays, making complex concepts fun and understandable.
Artist’s concept - Magnetospheric Multiscale mission.

Howes Awarded NASA Grant To Study Magnetic Reconnection in Solar Wind

Thursday, March 14, 2024
NASA has awarded Professor Greg Howes a $525,311 grant to study the plasma physics of magnetic reconnection in turbulent solar wind.
Students with Ravi Uppu in lab

Uppu Awarded NSF CAREER Grant

Monday, March 11, 2024
The National Science Foundation has awarded Assistant Professor Ravi Uppu a $550,000 CAREER grant a prestigious five-year award given to early-career faculty for research and education. Uppu and his research team will explore the electronic and photonic properties of light-matter interactions at the single emitter level, enabling them to generate multiphoton entangled states of light necessary for practical quantum interconnects.
Dale Stille named APS Fellow

Stille Recognized As APS Fellow

Monday, March 11, 2024
Dale Stille, an Instructional Resource Specialist in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was recognized as a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) at the APS March meeting in Minneapolis.