News Archive

Zhen Liiu smiling man in glasses and a blue polo shirt
Research News

Liu receives prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship for early-career researchers

Posted

School of Physics and Astronomy Assistant Professor Zhen Liu is one of only 126 early-career researchers who will receive a prestigious 2024 Sloan Research Fellowship.

Michael Coughlin and Alexander Criswell
General, Research News

Coughlin and Criswell part of comprehensive UV light survey

Posted

Assistant Professor Michael Coughlin and graduate student Alexander Criswell of the School of Physics and Astronomy are part of a new NASA mission that has just been selected to conduct a comprehensive survey of ultraviolet light spanning the entire sky.

Michael Coughlin smiling man wearing glasses
General, Research News

Coughlin receives McKnight Professorship

Posted

School of Physics and Astronomy Assistant Professor Michael Coughlin has been awarded a 2024 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship.

Michael Wilking
Research, Research News

Moving Target: New Faculty member does neutrino research with a twist

Posted

Professor Michael Wilking is a new faculty member in high energy physics. Wilking’s research is focused on neutrinos and he is a member of several international neutrino collaborations, including DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment).

On the left a snapshot of a lion taken at night, on the  right a head and shoulders picture of Sarah Huebner
Research News

Huebner receives Innovation Award

Posted

Dr. Sarah Huebner of the School of Physics and Astronomy has received the Innovation Impact Case Award for her project “Citizen Science and Artificial Intelligence Combined to Conserve Earth’s Natural Resources.”

Ben Margalit
Research, Research News

Catching lightning in a bottle: new faculty member studies the physics of transient events

Posted

Ben Margalit is a new faculty member in the School and a theoretical astrophysicist who studies the fundamental physics of star explosions, collisions and other examples of intergalactic violence such as a black hole passing near a galaxy and “shredding it to spaghetti.”

Computer chip in Professor Pribiag's lab
Research, Research News

Pribiag group creates new superconducting diode that could improve performance of quantum computers and artificial intelligence

Posted

Professor Vlad Pribiag of the School of Physics and Astronomy led a team that developed a more energy-efficient, tunable superconducting diode—a promising component for future electronic devices—that could help scale up quantum computers for industry and improve artificial intelligence systems.

Supernova telescope image
Research, Research News

Kelly leads first-of-its-kind measurement of the Universe’s expansion rate

Posted

Assistant Professor Patrick Kelly of the School of Physics and Astronomy led a team which used a first-of-its-kind technique to measure the expansion rate of the Universe, providing insight that could help more accurately determine the Universe’s age and help physicists and astronomers better understand the cosmos.

Image from James Webb Space Telescope showing a galaxy cluster
Research, Research News

Kelly part of group that discovers tiny galaxy with big star power using James Webb telescope

Posted

Using first-of-their-kind observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, a University of Minnesota Twin Cities-led team looked more than 13 billion years into the past to discover a unique, minuscule galaxy that could help astronomers learn more about galaxies that were present shortly after the Big Bang.

Ali Sulaiman and the icy moons of Jupiter
Research, Research News

Could Jupiter’s icy moons support life? Mission to Jupiter set to launch on April 13

Posted

Assistant Professor Ali Sulaiman of the School of Physics and Astronomy is part of the magnetometer instrument team that will study the icy moons of Jupiter. The European Space Agency’s flagship mission, the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE), will begin its eight-year voyage to the Solar System’s largest planet on April 13.