News
For a better cup of coffee, look to physics
Researchers led by Arnold Mathijssen of the School of Arts & Sciences have applied fluid mechanics to brew the best cup of pour-over coffee using the fewest granules. The findings have potential application to other systems such as surface erosion, filtration, and even wastewater management.
2025 Dean's Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research
Arnold Mathijssen is the recipient of the 2025 Dean's Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research. This award recognizes Professor Mathijssen’s multi-dimensional contributions to undergraduate education in the School of Arts and Sciences. The Dean's Award for Mentorship of Undergraduate Research is presented to SAS standing faculty members for meaningful engagement of undergraduate students in research due to exceptional nurturing and facilitating by faculty.
Correlated Structural and Optical Characterization of Hexagonal Boron Nitride
Correlative imaging using transmission electron microscopy and photoluminescence microscopy reveals the complex connections between material morphology, surface contaminants, and optical properties of hexagonal boron nitride.
Congratulations to our ATLAS Faculty!
The 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics was awarded to researchers from the ATLAS, CMS, ALICE, and LHCb Experiments at CERN!
Congratulations to the Department of Physics and Astronomy’s Student Award Winners!
The Department Colloquium when the awards given out is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9th at 3:30pm in DRL A8.
The Elias Burstein Prize
Jonathan Stensberg - “For his pioneering works on terahertz studies on topological superconductivity.”
New high-definition pictures of the early universe
New research by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) collaboration has produced the clearest images yet of the universe’s infancy—the earliest cosmic time currently accessible to humans. Measuring light that travelled for more than 13 billion years to reach a telescope high in the Chilean Andes, the telescope’s images reveal the universe when it was about 380,000 years old—the equivalent of hours-old baby pictures of a now middle-aged cosmos.
Phil Nelson receives Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching
The Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Pennsylvania were established in 1961 with the help of the Christian R. and Mary F. Lindback Foundation. Christian Lindback was President and principal owner of Abbotts Dairies Inc. and a Trustee of Bucknell University. The Foundation established Lindback Awards for Distinguished Teaching at colleges and universities throughout Abbotts Dairies Inc.’s service area in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia.
Robert Johnson selected for the Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty
Congratulations to Bob Johnson, who has been selected for the Provost's Award for Teaching Excellence by Non-Standing Faculty. This award is in recognition of his commitment to teaching at Penn, and only one such award is made each year across all the non-health schools (Annenberg, Design, Engineering and Applied Science, GSE, Law, SAS, Social Policy & Practice, Wharton).
What can theoretical physics teach us about knitting?
Penn physicist Randall Kamien, visiting scholar Lauren Niu, and collaborator Geneviève Dion of Drexel bring unprecedented levels of predictability to the ancient practice of knitting by developing a mathematical model that could be used to create a new class of lightweight, ultra-strong materials. Read full article here
2025 Sloan Research Fellows
The University of Pennsylvania’s Jason Altschuler, César de la Fuente, Liang Wu, and Anderson Ye Zhang have each been selected to receive a 2025 Sloan Research Fellowship, which recognizes early-career scientists in North America.