News Archive
Physicists go to extremes in the hunt for dark matter
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In the hunt for one of nature’s most elusive substances – dark matter, which makes up 85% of all matter in the universe – scientists are going to extremes. Deep underground and chilled to near absolute zero, the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) SNOLAB – one of the world’s most sensitive dark matter searches – has begun collecting its very first scientific data, following a six month commissioning period for the newly installed experiment.
Sasli Proposal Approved for part of first cycle of observations at Roman Space Telescope
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Argyro Sasli, Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Physics and Astronomy, has received word that her proposal has been accepted for the first ever cycle of observations at the Nancy Grace Roman Space telescope.
Graduate Fellowships and Awards, 2026
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There are 20 graduate fellowship and award recipients in the School for 2026.
Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards, 2026
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There are 39 recipients of 15 undergraduate scholarships and awards in the School for 2026.
Zooniverse Approaching 1 Billion Classification Milestone
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Professor Lucy Fortson of the School of Physics and Astronomy is one of the founding members of the Zooniverse citizen science collaboration platform. Zooniverse connects over 3 million volunteers with research projects and provides an online platform for citizen scientists to accelerate research across the sciences by contributing classifications. The platform, which is the largest and most popular of its kind, is expected to reach the one billion classification mark by June 30, 2026.
Remembering Marvin Marshak
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Professor Marvin Marshak passed away on April 2, 2026 at the age of 80. Marshak was a member of the physics faculty at the University of Minnesota for over fifty years and he made, according to colleague Professor Greg Pawloski, "a profound impact on the field of experimental particle physics."
Solar astrophysics students building instrument that will hitch a ride on NASA balloon
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Students in the School of Physics and astronomy, under the supervision of Professor Lindsay Glesener, are building a solar x-ray spectrometer that is planned to fly on a NASA high-altitude balloon from Antarctica in late 2026 or early 2027.
MicroBooNE likely has ruled out possibility of ‘sterile neutrinos’
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Professor Andrew Furmanski of the School of Physics and Astronomy is a member of an experimental collaboration which has eliminated the possibility of a theorized possible fourth neutrino flavor, the ‘sterile’ neutrino with 95% confidence.
Pribiag named Dean's Fellow
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Professor Vlad Pribiag of the School of Physics and Astronomy has been named a Dean’s Fellow for the 2026-2027 Academic Year.
Cushman and Liu groups help SuperCDMS to major milestone
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School of Physics and Astronomy faculty members Priscilla Cushman and Yan Liu are part of a collaboration that successfully cooled the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment to base temperature - the temperature required for the superconducting detectors to become operational. This temperature is hundreds of times colder than outer space.