2025 News

(Oct 23, 2025)

In the October 2025 volume of Physics Today, Suzanne White Brahmia (Associate Professor of Physics, University of Washington) and Geraldine L. Cochran (Associate Professor of Physics, Ohio State University) present the case for expanding access to introductory physics courses for a broader cohort of undergraduate students. They use the department's Extended Analytical Physics (EAP) sequence as an important case study. They write: "The Rutgers EAP program serves as a model for effective expanded access and sustained success. Some institutions of higher education are beginning to rethink introductory physics through an access lens. The Ohio State University now offers an extended course structure based on the Rutgers model." Both Suzanne and Geraldine directed the EAP program for years when they were at Rutgers.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Halkiadakis, Eva, Montalvo, Roy

(Oct 23, 2025)

Neelima Sehgal is a Professor at the Stony Brook University Physics and Astronomy Department, where she works to understand the fundamental physics of the Universe, largely using observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background. While at Rutgers she worked with Arthur Kosowsky and Jack Hughes. She was elected to an APS Fellowship in 2025.  By the way, I am sure there are many more Department graduates who are APS Fellows.

(Oct 23, 2025)

Adina Luican-Mayer is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa, Department of Physics (and is serving as Interim Department Chair). She received her PhD in 2012 working in Eva Andrei's group. Adina continues to work on moiré materials, now seeking to uncover the physics of moiré-induced polarization in atomically thin materials. See here for more details: https://www.moore.org/article-detail?newsUrlName=advancing-discovery-2025-experimental-physics-investigators

• Profile(s): Andrei, Eva Y.

(Oct 23, 2025)

Xi Dai, also a former postdoc at the Center for Materials Theory, back around 2003 and 2004, holds a chaired professorship at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Earlier this year he was awarded a 1/3 share of the 2025 Future Science Prize in Physical Science. The citation for the award reads: "For their contributions to the computational prediction and experimental realization of topological electronic materials." This prize is one of the most important scientific honors in China and it comes with a sizeable monetary prize. For more, see here: https://www.futureprize.org/en/laureates/list.html

At Rutgers Xi Dai worked with G. Kotliar, E. Abrahams, V. Oudovenko, K. Haule, and others.

• Profile(s): Haule, Kristjan, Kotliar, Gabriel, Oudovenko, Viktor

(Oct 23, 2025)

One of our former postdocs at the Center for Materials Theory, Nicola Marzari, was recently appointed to the Chair of James Clerk Maxwell - the Cavendish chair in England that has been held by famous folks such as Ernest Rutherford, JJ Thompson and Neville Mott. This is a post and an honor at the highst level of distinction and Rutgers was a key part of the story.

Marzari was a center postdoc working with David Vanderbilt in the early days of the center, around 1997-2001, and five of his seven most cited works
were all carried out at Rutgers, particularly their work on the Wannier 90 code that has revolutionized quantum materials theory.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Vanderbilt, David

(Oct 10, 2025)

It is our great pleasure to report that two of our faculty have been elected 2025 Fellows of the American Physical Society (APS).

Seongshik (Sean) Oh was nominated through the Topical Group on Quantum Materials Synthesis and was cited
For advances in the MBE growth of chalcogenide thin films and defect engineering in 2D materials.

and

Vitaly Podzorov was nominated through the Division of Material Physics and his citation reads
For pioneering contributions to the understanding of charge transport, photoconductivity, and exciton dynamics in crystalline organic semiconductors, layered inorganic semiconductors, and metal-halide perovskites.

Congratulations Sean and Vitaly for your accomplishments!!

Read more …

• Profile(s): Oh, Seongshik, Podzorov, Vitaly

(Sept 4, 2025)

The innocuous sounding title of the associated article in "What's new at Rutgers Fall 2025" is "Serin Physics Lab 164 Helium Recovery Equipment" and it describes the completion of a new Helium Recovery System servicing Weida Wu's lab 164. The compressor and storage tanks are in a mechanical room that is part of the Machine Shop. Facilities installed a new electrical panel and some chilled water piping.

Well done Weida and team! Kudos for all the heavy lifting are due to the machine shop staff: Cole Woloszyn, Malek Wahba (student worker) and Paul Pickard, who took this photo below.

• Profile(s): Pickard, Paul, Woloszyn, Cole

(Sept 15, 2025)

Scientists at Rutgers find a rare cosmic pattern that will help them learn more about the invisible matter that holds the universe together.

Dark matter is responsible for gravity bending light to create the fifth image in the center of this image.  Light from a distant galaxy is bent by other galaxies to appear as the four outer galaxies in this image.  The "einstein cross" pictured here is a very rare find.  

Read more …

• Profile(s): Baker, Andrew J., Eid, Lana, Keeton, Charles R.

(Sept 15, 2025)

Using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, a team of scientists, including Rutgers-New Brunswick’s Distinguished Professor Jack Hughes, has made a crucial discovery about the final hours of a massive star before it exploded.

The researchers found that the star’s insides violently shifted just hours before it blew apart, creating the famous Cassiopeia A supernova remnant. The observations are reported in the Astrophysical Journal.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Hughes, John P.

(July 30, 2025)

Scientists have discovered a new way that matter can exist – one that is different from the usual states of solid, liquid, gas or plasma – at the interface of two exotic, materials made into a sandwich.

Here is the link to the Rutgers Today press release:
Scientists Discover New Quantum State at the Intersection of Exotic Materials

The story was picked up by Science Daily:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250801021008.htm

• Profile(s): Chakhalian, Jak, Kareev, Mikhail (Misha), Pixley, Jedediah H., Terilli, Michael, Wu, Tsung-Chi

(July 1, 2025)

Astrophysicists from Rutgers are teaming up with colleagues from two other research universities to make discoveries on a new, radically powerful telescope (Vera C. Rubin Observatory) that may reveal the secrets of dark matter, dark energy and other cosmological enigmas.

Read more at Rutgers Today

• Profile(s): Gawiser, Eric, Hughes, John P., Jha, Saurabh W., Keeton, Charles R.

(June 17, 2025)

We are very pleased to report that at their June 17th meeting, the Rutgers Board of Governors approved Alyson Brook's promotion to Professor.
Congratulations to Alyson on her accomplishments and well-deserved promotion!
Her promotion is effective July 1, 2025.

• Profile(s): Brooks, Alyson M.

(June 4, 2025)

Researchers led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist, who looked deeply into space at a period known as “Cosmic Noon” about 2 billion to 3 billion years after the Big Bang, have found that a special class of galaxies were busy experiencing their first major burst of star formation.

Read more at Rutgers Today

• Profile(s): Firestone, Nicole, Gawiser, Eric

(May 27, 2025)

Some excellent news to begin the first (unofficial) week of summer!

We are very pleased to report that Roy Montalvo has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor, effective July 1, 2025.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Montalvo, Roy

(May 21, 2025)

Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers have discovered a new class of materials – called intercrystals – with unique electronic properties that could power future technologies.
Scientists Discover Class of Crystals With Properties That May Prove Revolutionary 
Forbes described this work as the "Discovery of the Week":

• Profile(s): Andrei, Eva Y., Li, Guohong, Pixley, Jedediah H.

(Apr 28, 2025)

Nature Astronomy published an article led by Prof Blakesley Burkhart titled "A nearby dark molecular cloud in the Local Bubble revealed via H_2 fluorescence". They've named the cloud Eos.

Rutgers issued a press release about the work here. The lede of the release reads as follows:

An international team of scientists led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist has discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and among the closest to the sun and Earth ever to be detected.

The full Nature Astronomy article is available here.

The New York Times has a story on Blakesley's discovery of the Eos Cloud.

Congratulations to Blakesley and her team on this fascinating discovery!

• Profile(s): Burkhart, Blakesley

(April 27, 2025)

An international team of scientists led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astrophysicist has discovered a potentially star-forming cloud that is one of the largest single structures in the sky and among the closest to the sun and Earth ever to be detected.
Read more at Rutgers Today

This story was picked up by the NY Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/science/molecular-cloud-eos-stars-milky-way.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DU8.Hj12.RAJUzeR53ETZ&smid=url-share
and NJ.com
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/vast-molecular-cloud-long-invisible-discovered-near-solar-system

• Profile(s): Burkhart, Blakesley

(Apr 17, 2025)

Shumaila F. Chishti has won the 2024-2025 Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Lecturer.  Shumaila teaches in the General and Extended General Physics courses where she makes invaluable contributions to realizing highly effective education of 1000s of students every year.   Shumaila has been a driving force in shaping the learning experiences of her students through her expertise, dedication, and forward-thinking approach to physics education.

Congratulations to Shumaila on this award!

(Apr 17, 2025)

Alyson Brooks has won the 2024-2025 Presidential Outstanding Faculty Scholar Award in recognition of her outstanding teaching and scholarly accomplishments in her years at Rutgers. Prof. Brooks has established herself as an international leader in her field, publishing high-impact and significant scholarship, while compiling an outstanding record as a dedicated and innovative classroom teacher and as an effective mentor to PhD and undergraduate students.

Congratulations to Alyson on this award!

• Profile(s): Brooks, Alyson M.

(April 15, 2025)

The news was just announced that Saurabh Jha has been awarded a 2025 Guggenheim Fellowship in Astronomy-Astrophysics. There were two other awardees from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, one in Fine Arts and the other in Photography, among a total of 198 fellows.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Jha, Saurabh W.

(Apr 9, 2025) 

Congratulations to the Department of Physics and Astronomy members of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment for winning the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics!

The prize is awarded to the co-authors of publications based on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider Run-2 data released between 2015 and July 15, 2024, at the experimental collaborations ATLAS, CMS, ALICE and LHCb. The award citation reads:

The four experiments are recognized for testing the modern theory of particle physics – the Standard Model – and other theories describing physics that might lie beyond it to high precision. This includes precisely measuring properties of the Higgs boson and elucidating the mechanism by which the Higgs field gives mass to elementary particles; probing extremely rare particle interactions, and exotic states of matter that existed in the first moments of the Universe; discovering more than 72 new hadrons and measuring subtle differences between matter and antimatter particles; and setting strong bounds on possibilities for new physics beyond the Standard Model, including dark matter, supersymmetry and hidden extra dimensions. ATLAS and CMS are general-purpose experiments, which pursue the full program of exploration offered by the LHC's high-energy and high-intensity proton and ion beams. They synchronously announced the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012 and continue to investigate its properties. ALICE studies the quark-gluon plasma, a state of extremely hot and dense matter that existed in the first microseconds after the Big Bang. And LHCb explores minute differences between matter and antimatter, violation of fundamental symmetries, and the complex spectra of composite particles ("hadrons") made of heavy and light quarks. By performing these extraordinarily precise and delicate tests, the LHC experiments have pushed the boundaries of fundamental physics to unprecedented limits.

Read more …

(Apr 3, 2025)

Prof Vitaly Podzorov who has been recognized by PubPeer.

PubPeer is an online platform for reporting post-publication analysis of published papers with the lofty goal of rooting out errors, misconduct, and even fraud in the scientific literature. Valery and his colleagues have been active on this platform for the last few years and have discovered serious errors in a number of high-profile papers. Their review of a 2024 Nature paper revealed not only serious scientific errors but also a misconduct and serves as the basis for the award to Vitaly.

Rutgers Today has written a short article about Vitaly's work on PubPeer:

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/physics-professor-aims-setting-science-right

• Profile(s): Podzorov, Vitaly

Apr 2, 2025

From Jack Hughes (Physics Chair):

For the past 75 years the Gravity Research Foundation has given out awards for essays on gravitation. As I was posting the flyer for the 2025 Awards, I happened to notice that our own Tom Banks won the award for top paper in 2024!

The winning essay is tilted "Holographic Inflation, Primordial Black Holes and Early Structure Formation" by Tom Banks (Rutgers) and Willy Fischler (UT, Austin). I was particularly interested to read their article because it allowed me to learn about the holographic model of inflation and its connection to cosmology and the properties of galaxies in the early universe being revealed by the JWST.

Their paper was published in Oct 2024 in the International Journal of Modern Physics D. Here is the direct link to the paper:

https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/10.1142/S0218271824400017

Please join me in congratulating Tom on this award!

• Profile(s): Banks, Tom

(Apr 1, 2025)

Rutgers physicists merged two lab-synthesized materials into a synthetic quantum structure once thought impossible to exist and produced an exotic structure expected to provide insights that could lead to new materials at the core of quantum computing.

Read more at Rutgers Today

• Profile(s): Chakhalian, Jak, Kareev, Mikhail (Misha), Terilli, Michael, Wu, Tsung-Chi

(March 20, 2025)

In a groundbreaking study on the synthesis of cellulose – a major constituent of all plant cell walls – a team of Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers has captured images of the microscopic process of cell-wall building continuously over 24 hours with living plant cells, providing critical insights that may lead to the development of more robust plants for increased food and lower-cost biofuels production.

Read more at Rutgers Today:
https://www.rutgers.edu/news/scientists-witness-plant-cells-generate-cellulose-and-form-cell-walls-first-time

• Profile(s): Aggarwal, Nakul, Lee, Sang-Hyuk

(Feb 18, 2025)

We are pleased to report that Prof. Alyson Brooks has won a 2025-26 Cheryl Wall Faculty Fellowship and the 2024-25 Chancellor Excellence in STEM Diversity Award. 

 Please join us in congratulating Alyson for these well-deserved awards recognizing her efforts and accomplishments in growing a broad and inclusive community of physicists and astronomers.

 The Cheryl Wall Faculty Fellowships recognize full-time faculty committed to addressing issues faced by the university’s diverse student population. The fellowships pay tribute to Dr. Cheryl Wall, who was a champion of these efforts, pioneered cluster hiring at Rutgers and helped guide various diversity projects, including the Rutgers AAUP-AFT's work on race and gender equity.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Brooks, Alyson M.

(Jan 30, 2025)

Nancy Pamula has won a 2024 SAS Staff Excellence Recognition Award!

She is being recognized for her Outstanding Contributions to the Staff Culture.

Please join us in congratulating Nancy for this well-deserved award!!

• Profile(s): Pamula, Nancy

(Jan 21, 2025)

Please join us in congratulating Larry for his recognition as one of the 2025 Outstanding Referees of the Physical Review journals.

Previous recipients of this honor in the department (also graduate faculty) include Noémie Koller (2019), Sang Cheong (2014), Eva Andrei (2012), David Vanderbilt (2012), Eugenia Etkina (2011), Charles Glashauser (2011), Piers Coleman (2010), Jolie Cizewski (2009), Elihu Abrahams (2008) and Troy Shinbrot (2008).

The highly selective Outstanding Referee program annually recognizes a small percentage of the roughly 50,000 referees who have been asked to review one or more papers in the last twelve months. The Physical Review editors select the honorees based on the quality, number, and timeliness of their reports.

Thank you, Larry, for continuing Rutgers' tradition of outstanding refereeing for the APS.

• Profile(s): Andrei, Eva Y., Cheong, Sang-Wook, Cizewski, Jolie A., Coleman, Piers, Koller, Noemie, Shinbrot, Troy, Vanderbilt, David, Zamick, Larry

(Jan 16, 2025)

An article about Prof. Kristen McQuinn's research on the Leo P dwarf galaxy was just posted to Rutgers Today.

The title of the story is "Rutgers-led research using the Webb Telescope reveals patterns of star formation in Leo P"

Check out the fascinating story here: 

https://www.rutgers.edu/news/tiny-galaxy-answering-some-big-questions

• Profile(s): McQuinn, Kristen B W

(Jan 16, 2025)

Congratulations to Prof Mike Gentile who has joined the Office of Disability Services Faculty Honor Roll for Fall 2024.

The Faculty Honor Roll is an initiative started Spring 2024 to recognize instructors who go above and beyond to support the work of the Office of Disability Services (ODS).  ODS staff were asked to nominate instructors for this honor.  

Read more …

• Profile(s): Gentile, Michael J.

(Jan 14, 2025)

Congratulations to Prof. David Shih of the NHETC for being awarded a Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. 

For more information on David and the other winners, please click here.

The Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award is conferred to internationally recognized researchers in recognition of their entire academic record to date. In addition to a monetary award, award winners are invited to carry out research projects of their own choice in cooperation with specialist colleagues in Germany.

Read more …

• Profile(s): Shih, David