News & Events
The latest issue of our deparment newsletter is now available! It is available for download here.
Departmental awards were presented to graduate and undergraduate students at a luncheon on May 2 2013 to recognize their achievements in teaching, outreach, resaerch and academics. A new addition to our slate of awards was a prize for academic excellence in a graduating senior, instituted by the class of 1976-77 in the name of retired Professor Richard Kofler. ...see list of awardees
An illustration accompanying the article "Mechanical Properties of Doubly-Stabilized Microtubule Filaments" by the group of Prof. Jennifer Ross was selected as a cover for a recent Biophysical Journal. More details here ...
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Senior Kelly Malone is one of four 2013 "Rising Researchers", a new campus-wide program to honor students whose achievements exemplify the quality of research, scholarship, and creative activity conducted by UMass Amherst undergraduates.
Kelly, a physics and astronomy major, has worked on the enriched xenon observatory (EXO) experiment with Prof. Andrea Pocar since her sophomore year. Her Capstone project focussed on programming the computer control system of a radon abatement system for the EXO-200 experiment in New Mexico. ... more
Professors
Benny Davidovitch and Andrea Pocar have held hands-on outreach workshops to help bring modern research closer to the K12 curriculum. Their activity was carried out within the "Science and Engineering Science Seminars" organized for high school teachers in Western Massachusetts by Mort Sternheim's STEM Education Institute.
On Feb. 2 Pocar discussed "Everyday Particle Physics" using simple cloud chambers to observe ionizing radiation passing through a mist of super-cooled gas. On March 9 Davidovitch presented "Patterns around us", with an emphasis on real-life patterns demonstrated by the wrinkles observable on our skin or on paper sheets. ... more
The Physics Department was well-represented at the 5th annual Northeast Undergraduate Research and Development Symposium, hosted by the University of New England on March 2-3. Gary Forster, Kirsten Randle and Adam Zec (Cadonati, Pocar) received an honorable mention for their coordinated presentations on the DarkSide project. Soren Hough (Ross) won best poster presentation for his research on “Using DNA Origami to Evaluate Motor Protein Binding Patterns”. Also presenting were John Karlen and Nick Mangini (Cadonati), Marie Calapa (Astronomy - Crocker) Bingquian Zheng (Biochemistry - Dubin), and Drew Morrison (Ecology - Stark).
The trip was sponsored by the Society of Physics Students.
Jaime Hutchinson successfully defended her thesis "The effect of vesicle shape, line tension, and lateral tension on membrane-binding proteins" on January 24. Her work was advised by Prof. Anthony Dinsmore.
German Colon successfully defended his thesis "Search for TeV-Scale Gravity Signatures in Final States with Leptons and Jets with the ATLAS Detector at sqrt(s) = 8 TeV" on February 13. His work was advised by Prof. Carlo Dallapiccola.
Craig Versek successfully defended his thesis "Charge Transport Studies of Proton and Ion Conducting Materials" on February 21. His work was advised by Prof. Mark Tuominen.
Co-PIs Brau, Dallapiccola and Willocq have been awarded a DOE grant of $1.71 million to fund their research activities on the ATLAS experiment for the 3-year period 2013-2015. In addition to the three faculty PIs, the UMass ATLAS group is currently comprised of a research scientist, two postdocs and five graduate students and maintains leadership positions in muon reconstruction software, muon detector upgrades, precision measurements of Standard Model processes and searches for new physics phenomena, including: extra dimensions, new interactions and hidden sectors of new particles. UMass ATLAS Website
Physicists Narayanan Menon, Benny Davidovitch and Chris Santangelo, together with Tom Russell from PS&E, have been awarded a $1M grant from the WM Keck Foundation to develop the basic science needed to spontaneously deliver ultrathin films to fluid interfaces. The films may then serve as microscopic and functional wall paper or shrink-wrap. The Keck Science and Engineering program funds "endeavors that are distinctive and novel in their approach. It encourages projects that are high-risk with the potential for transformative impact".
Stefan Dickert successfully defended his thesis "Conductivity of Gold Nanoparticle Thin Films and Magnetoresistance of Metallic Thin Films Embedded With Periodic Arrays of Cobalt Nanoparticles" on November 16. His work was advised by Professor Mark Tuominen.
Andrew Meade successfully defended his thesis "W/Z + Jets Cross Section Ratio, and its Implications for New Physics at the ATLAS Experiment" on December 20. His work was advised by Prof. Benjamin Brau.
In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy, biophysicist Jennifer Ross and colleagues report on the transport of molecular cargos along microtubules. They demonstrate that these cellular "highways" are able to transport cargo efficiently even in high traffic conditions.
...more
Our Department’s ties with the University of Science and Technology of China
were strengthened this year, when Professors Nikolay Prokofiev and Boris Svistunov (pictured here with Visiting Professor Youjin Deng) received honorary Professorships from USTC.Congratulations, Boris and Nikolay!
Jennifer Ross has won the 2013 Margaret Oakley Dayhoff Award of Biophysical Society. This prestigious early-career award is presented annually to a "woman who holds very high promise or has achieved prominence while developing the early stages of a career in biophysical research within the purview and interest of the Biophysical Society". Ross is being honored for her "innovative
and productive research in the field of molecular motors by using model
systems to define how motors are regulated in the complex environment of the cell"....more
Upfront Radio on WMUA 91.1FM will present a conversation on Introducing the Higgs Particle: Big Science and Big Excitement and Prospects for funding of fundamental science research on Wednesday September 26, 2012 (4:30-5:30 pm).The show will be hosted by Professor Jennie Traschen and feature guests Professors Ben Brau, Carlo Dallapiccola and Stephane Willocq, and Dean Steve Goodwin of the College of Natural Sciences. ...more
The department welcomes its incoming class of graduate students. Ten new students arrived from China, Colombia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the US, for graduate study. We also have four exchange students joining us from France and Germany this year. ...more
Phil Martel successfully defended his thesis "Measuring Proton Spin Polarizabilities with Polarized Compton Scattering " on September 10. His work was carried out on the A2 experiment in Germany and was advised by Prof. Rory Miskimen.
Jiansheng Feng successfully defended his thesis "Investigations of surface tension effects due to small-scale complex boundaries" on September 13. His work was advised by Prof. Jonathan P. Rothstein (MIE) and Prof. Mark Tuominen.
Hunter King successfully defended his thesis "Pattern formation in floating sheets" on September 28. His work was advised by Prof. Narayanan Menon.
The department welcomes Courtney Lannert, who has joined the Smith College Physics Department with an adjunct appointment at UMass. Her research area is theoretical condensed matter physics, and she also has a strong commitment to physics teaching. She comes to us following ten years as a faculty member at Wellesley College, after doctoral work at UC Santa Barbara.
The department welcomes Jun Yan, who joins our faculty to start up a new laboratory in experimental solid state physics. His expertise is in optical and electronic measurements on 2-dimensional materials such as graphene. He comes to us following a postdoctoral appointment at the University of Maryland and doctoral work at Columbia University.