Physics & Astronomy

College of Arts and Sciences

2021 Department News

UW Physics & Astronomy Newsletter Spring 2021

UW Researchers Resolve Controversy Over Energy Gap of a Van der Waals Material.  See cover art for the article here!

2020 Department News

Dr. Jifa Tian and his Co-PIs, Dr. TeYu Chien, Dr. Jinke Tang, Dr. Brian Leonard and Dr. John Ackerman, have secured a 3-year $750K DOE National Laboratory Partnerships grant for "Exploring Nontrivial Topological Superconductivity in 2M WS2 for Topological Quantum Computation"

Five faculty members received the A&S Faculty Research and Creative Activities Grant: Jifa Tian, Adam Myers, Mike Brotherton, Mike Pierce and Jinke Tang

Dr. TeYu Chien's research team, Professors Brian Leonard and Maohong Fan, graduate students Rabindra Dulal, Joann Hilman, Chris Masi, Teneil Schumacher, and post-doctorates Gaurab Rimal and Bang Xu recieved recognition for  "Converting Raw Coal Powder into Polycrystalline Nano-graphite by Metal-assisted Microwave Treatment".

Noah Cowper and Jacob McLane both received a NASA Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship

Cinnamon Undergraduate Scholarships were awarded to Jarred Louis Grant, Tim Faltermeier, Isabella Pope, and Michael James Lindman

A&S Outstanding Graduating Senior Award: Bryant Beau Jerome and Aylin Marie McGough-Peker.

Jacob McLane and Noah Cowper were awarded Outstanding TA's

UW Students Compile Largest-Ever Catalog of Quasars

Dinesh Baral received A&S Dean’s Graduate Scholars proposal, “Visualizing the Spin Texture in EuO/Fe3 GeTe2 Heterostructure” has been selected for funding ($2000)

Dr. Michael Brotherton spoke at the Wyoming Stargazing “World Above the Tetons” speaker series in Spring 2021

Newly Discovered Comet Could Be Brightest in Decades

Congratulations to Dr. Aysenur Biser for being awarded Top Professors of 2020 by UW Cap and Gown Chapter of Mortar Board!

Congratulations to Dr. TeYu Chien for recieving a Thumbs Up award from the A&S Dean's Undergraduate Council!

UW Physics & Astronomy Spring 2020 Newsletter

2019 Department News 

UW Research Group Advances Microscopic Understanding of Electric Field Treatment

UW's Fisher Innovation Launchpad Announces 10 Finalists

UW Study Shows Ability to Detect Light from UV to the IR Optical Regimes Using Spin Currents

UW Study Significantly Advances Alignment of Single-Wall Carbon Nanotubes Along Common Axis

Three-Year Grant to UW Promotes Computer Science Education in Wyoming.  Associate Professor Adam Myers is a co-PI on this $1M grant.

UW Scientists Receive DOE Grant for Memory Storage Research.  Associate Professor TeYu Chien and four other faculty members in UW’s Department of Physics and Astronomy recently were awarded a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Cristilyn Gardner, a first-year doctoral student in physics with a focus in astronomy, was among five UW students who received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.

2019 UW Physics & Astronomy Department Newsletter

2018 Department News

Connor O’Malley left us at the end of December.  He has taught most of the algebra-based general physics for us for the last two and half years.  We thank him for his service and wish him the best.

Congratulations to Jessica Sutter, Dylan Kloster and Riley Jordan.  Their team was selected as participants in the 2018 John P. Ellbogen Faculty Summer Institute on Developing Research through the Scholarship of Teacing and Learning.  The Summer Institute was held May 21-23, 2018.

Congratulations to Hannah and the SPS leadership team (Nick Trimble, Aman Kar, Ryan Parziale, and Jesse Winner) for earning the designation of a Society of Physics Students Notable Chapter!

Noah Cowper and Logan Jensen were selected as the 2018 Outstanding Graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Jesse Winner, William Scougale, Anh Nguyen and Bryant Jerome were awarded Cinnamon Undergraduate Scholarship.

Brad Lyke, David King and Riley Jordan received Outstanding TA awards.  

A&S Board of Visitors Student Service awards were presented to Dani Schurhammer and Jordan Turner.

Aman Kar was selected to receive the SPS Leadership Scholarship.

Graduate Student Aaron Wang received an Outstanding Poster Award at the Front Range Advanced Magnetics Symposium (FRAMS) held in Colorado Springs, CO in August.