See also RESEARCH NEWS for the latest research results from Department faculty and students, ARCHIVAL DEPARTMENTAL NEWS for old items, and the CAMPUS OBSERVATORY website for information on public viewing nights.
Endowed Prize in Memory of Kevin Strecker In memory of Kevin Strecker, who earned his Ph.D. from the Rice University Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2004, the Kevin E. Strecker Award has been established in the Department of Physics and Astronomy to recognize the most outstanding Master’s thesis each year. Funds are being raised to endow the award.
Neal Lane wins 2013 Vannevar Bush award The National Science Board (NSB) announced on March 26, 2013 that physicist Neal Lane, a former Presidential Science Adviser and former National Science Foundation (NSF) director, is the 2013 recipient of its Vannevar Bush Award.
Peter Nordlander wins 2013 Willis E. Lamb award Rice physicist Peter Nordlander will share the 2013 Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics. Professor Nordlander is recognized for pioneering theoretical contributions in the field of plasmonics.
Department faculty member elected fellow of the AAAS Physics and Astronomy faculty member Douglas Natelson is on of 6 Rice professors to be elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Department mourns loss of recent graduate Kevin Strecker, who earned his Ph.D. from the Rice University Department of Physics and Astronomy in 2004, died suddenly and unexpectedly Saturday, November 3.
Rice mourns loss of CAREER award-winning physicist July 18, 2012 - Adilet Imambekov, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, died while mountain climbing in his home country of Kazakhstan. He was 30. To contribute to a Memorial Fund for Adilet Imambekov's family, send a check, payable to Adilet's wife, Aigerim Kabdiyeva, to Ms. Valerie Call in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. Online contributions may be made at www.indiegogo.com/adilet. A memorial service will be held at 4 pm on September 27, 2012 at the Cohen House on the Rice University campus.
Hundreds of visitors to Rice witness the 2012 transit of Venus accross the Sun On Tuesday, June 5, 2012, sveral hundred visitors to the Rice campus attended a lecture and obtained first hand views of this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Physics and Astronomy Celebrates the UnConvention On Friday April 13, 2012, over 100 members of the Physics and Astronomy Department and friends from the Houston community gathered to celebrate the history of Physics and Astronomy at Rice.
Open House at Rice Campus Observatory, Friday, March 30, 2012Dr. Pat Hartigan of the Physics and Astronomy Dept. will host an open house at the Campus Observatory from 8-11pm on Friday, March 30, with Saturday, March 31 as a bad-weather backup date. Featured objects include the Moon, several planets such as Venus, Mars, and Saturn, and a variety of clusters and nebulae. The Rice Observatory is located on the 4th floor of Brockman Hall for Physics.Please see the Observatory website at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~ruco/observatory.html for the latest information and for weather closures.
Rice Space Institute names new director On March 6, 2012, the Rice Space Institute names Physics and Astronomy professor David Alexander as its new director.
Department's own Rose Berridge named a Centennial Star On February 2, 2012, Rose Berridge, a senior department administrator in the Physics and Astronomy Department was honored as a Centennial Star on the Rice University campus.
Discover Magazine names Patrick Hartigan's Hubble Space Telescope movies of stellar jets as one of the Top 100 Stories of 2011 On January 9, 2012, Discover Magazine recognized the work of Patrick Hartigan of the Physics and Astronomy Department who used the Hubble Space Telescope to study the physics of stellar jets in ways never before possible.
Physics & Astronomy graduate student Wilson Cauley wins American Astronomical Society's Chambliss Award The AAS awards the research presented by graduate student Wislon Cauley at the 219th meeting of the Society held Jan. 8-12, 2012 in Austin, TX
Rice biophysicist Huey Huang wins Avanti Award Huey Huang of the Physics and Astronomy Department will receive the 2012 Avanti Award in Lipids from the Biophysical Society for his unique and seminal work that defines how drugs and poreforming proteins and peptides interact with lipid bilayers.
Brockman Hall for Physics featured in Institute magazine The magazine of the American Institute of Architects features the new Brockman Hall for Physics
Physics & Astronomy graduate student Jeffrey Reep wins NASA Fellowship NASA will support the research of Rice student Jeffrey Reep as he works to unlock the secrets of solar flares
Imambekov reaches new peak Adilet Imambekov has a passion for peaks, having climbed the 24,757-foot Muztagh Ata, and for pinpoints, having peered into nanostructures to learn their quantum secrets.
Brockman Hall for Physics profiled in video The new Brockman Hall for Physics and its world leading research was profiled in an Around Campus video which aired Sept. 27, 2011.
Brockman Hall for Physics wins architectual design award The new Brockman Hall for Physics wins design award from Texas Architect
Three renowned scientists recruited for cancer, physics and chemistry research at Rice Herbert Levine, José Onuchic and Peter Wolynes will bring leading national labs to Rice’s BioScience Research Collaborative, including an NSF Center for Theoretical Biological Physics, thanks in part to a CPRIT grant.
Reverse NanoJapan: Rice to host 25-30 Japanese students In the wake of the March 11 earthquake and rolling blackouts that are severely affecting university research laboratories across Japan, the award-winning undergraduate internship program NanoJapan is scrambling to run its annual summer program in reverse; rather than having U.S. undergraduates travel to Japan for lab internships, NanoJapan is offering partner labs in Japan the opportunity to send 25-30 students to Rice University laboratories for three months.
Rice University seeks LEED for physics hall Architectural firm KierenTimberlake designed Rice University's Brockman Hall for Physics, which is expected to contend for LEED Gold certification.
Rice University unveils state-of-the-art physics research facility Federal, Rice officials dedicate Brockman Hall, which drew $11 million in stimulus funding.
Prof. Paul Padley quoted in a story about the threat of nuclear meltdown Paul Padley, professor of physics and astronomy, is quoted in a story about the threat of nuclear meltdown in the wake of the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami. See other related news stories: KPRC-TV, KRIV-TV, >KHOU-TV
Complex lab equipment moved intact to minimize downtime It looked like a scene from “Mission: Impossible”: A laser table the size of a car was moved through a hole in a wall, lifted by crane, pushed by hand on pneumatic carts and lowered through a trap door into a high-tech basement lab.
Face to Face with Jason Hafner Jason Hafner sweats the small stuff, but the Rice University professor can’t help it. When moving molecules around, it goes with the territory.
CNN International Patricia Reiff, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Rice Space Institute, provided live commentary on CNN International's coverage of the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery.
Dreaming of space Patricia Reiff, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Rice Space Institute, is quoted in an article about a survey indicating the increasing popularity of careers in aerospace among children.
Obama resists research cuts Increases for science and technology in the 2012 U.S. budget prioritize innovation over reductions in the national deficit. Neal Lane, the Malcolm Gillis University Professor and professor of physics and astronomy, is quoted.
Gustavo Scuseria wins Feynman Prize Rice computational chemist Gustavo Scuseria, whose research is incorporated into software used in thousands of laboratories around the world, has been awarded the Feynman Prize for theoretical nanotechnology for 2010.
Michael Deem named AAAS fellow Mary "Cindy" Farach-Carson, associate vice provost for research and professor of biochemistry and cell biology, and Michael Deem, the John W. Cox Professor in Biochemical and Genetic Engineering and professor of physics and astronomy, have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world's largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science.
Rice Campus Observatory Moves to new home The Rice University Campus Observatory, a landmark in the middle of the North Annex Parking Lot since 2002, moved to the east end of the new Brockman Hall for Physics.
Rice physics student wins Samsung Scholarship Wooyoung Hong was drawn to Rice University by its reputation for nanotechnology research, but he will depart with a much broader perspective.
Emilia Morosan wins PECASE award The White House announced 85 researchers as recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. Rice University physicist Emilia Morosan is one of this years winners of this prestigious award.
Naomi Halas selected OSA director at large The Optical Society of America (OSA) announced recently three directors at large were chosen at this year’s election, including Naomi J. Halas of Rice University, Eric Mazur of Harvard University and Jannick P. Rolland of the University of Rochester’s Institute of Optics.
'Solar Week' aims to link kids to leading scientists David Alexander, professor of physics and astronomy, is quoted in an article about the biannual Solar Week at the University of California, Berkeley Space Science Laboratory's Center for Science Education.
Scuseria is Rice’s first ACS fellow Gustavo Scuseria has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Rice professors most prolific Halas, Ajayan among influential Nano Letters' top contributors.
Professor Appointed Associate Dean Rice University complimentary research associate, Gary Morris, has been appointed associate dean of Valparaiso University’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Deem receives AIChE Professional Progress Award Rice University's Michael Deem is the 2010 recipient of the Professional Progress Award in Chemical Engineering, one of the highest achievements bestowed by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Rice wins $3M NSF grant for supercomputer 'Workhorse' system will include Rice's first 3-D visualization facility.
Halas, West are State Bar Inventors of the Year Rice University researchers Naomi Halas and Jennifer West have been named Inventors of the Year by the State Bar of Texas for their patented process to use light-activated gold nanoparticles in cancer therapy.
Rice physicists building long-lasting ties with China Last week's Zhejiang workshop is latest effort to foster collaborations.
Ultra-cold physics will be a hot topic Randy Hulet, the Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics and Astronomy, is featured in a Q-and-A discussing the importance of atomic physics.
Congratulations, 2010 Physics and Astronomy Department Award Recipients! Tom Bonner Book Prize: Michael Eastwood (Sophomore), Wooyoung Hong (Junior), Brian S. Henderson (Senior), Heng Ji and Dirk Lorenz (1st year graduate student)Heaps Prize: Brian S. HendersonChuoke Award: Ivan Knez (2nd year graduate student), Kui Bao (3rd year graduate student)William and Elva Gordon Fellowship: Yi ChenWilson Award: Yenny Natali Martinez.
Congratulations, David! David Alexander, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, has been elected 2011 Chair of the Solar Physics Division of the American Astronomical Society (AAS).
Four Rice students win Goldwater ScholarshipsSophomore physics majors, Michael Eastwood and Tal Einav, have been named recipients of a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship.
Top 10 Ranking! The Atomic/Molecular/Optical (AMO) group in the Physics and Astronomy Department has been nationally ranked 9th in U.S. News &World Report's 2011 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools."
Brockman Hall gets Heavy Air-Handling unitMore than 40 tons of air-handling equipment was lifted to the fourth floor of the structure, which is coming together on the north side of campus, sandwiched between Hamman and George R. Brown halls