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The Division of Physical Sciences is committed to sharing information about its administration, academics, outreach and research—from people to their changemaking activities—with a full-service news and multimedia team. From writing stories and media training, to coordinating press interviews and posting social media news, we cover the physical sciences around the clock, year-round.

	Physics PhD Student Wins Beth Brown Memorial Award Christian Aganze, a PhD student who works with Professor Adam Burgasser in the Department of Physics, was awarded the Beth Brown Memorial Award for his work on discovering faint stars out of the solar system. The award, supported by the American Astronomical Society and connected with the National Society of Black Physicists meeting, commemorates Brown. She was the first African American woman to earn a doctorate from the University of Michigan’s astronomy department and served as a role model for students from underrepresented groups.
	Physicist Wins Buchalter Cosmology Prize UC San Diego Assistant Professor of Physics Daniel Green was named the winner of the 2020 Buchalter Cosmology Prize for his paper, “Signals of a Quantum Universe.” His and his co-author Rafael Porto’s research explores ways to test the ultimate origin of structure in the universe, from planets and stars to galaxies and beyond.
	Industry Alum Pays It Forward through Physics Education Outreach From physics graduate student to successful technical fellow and sciences manager at General Atomics, Larry Woolf shares his story of impact in industry.
	Fresh Sea Spray Turns ‘Sour’ after Being Airborne UC San Diego chemistry researchers find that the smallest fresh sea spray particles become 100,000 times more acidic than the ocean within two minutes.
	Physics Professor Earns Prestigious NCAA Silver Anniversary Award UC San Diego’s Adam Burgasser is one of seven former student-athletes to receive the 2021 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. Burgasser, a former diving standout, is now a Department of Physics professor who co-discovered the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system.
	Physics Professor’s MemComputing Considered for UC Startup Innovation Challenge Prize Physicist and Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology recipient Professor Max Di Ventra co-founded MemComputing, Inc., which is one of the 10 finalists in the 2021 UC Startup Innovation Challenge.
	UC San Diego Tops UC System in Number of DURIP Awards Physicist Monica Allen is one of the seven scientists at UC San Diego who received a Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP) award from the U.S. Department of Defense.
	On the Frontlines of Science Policymaking Professor Seth Cohen maneuvers between chemistry labs and service at the White House and beyond, calling scientists to civic duty.
	Physical Sciences Dean Announces Undergraduate Student Awards Dean of Physical Sciences Steven Boggs has announced this year’s winners of the Dean’s Undergraduate Award for Excellence, recognizing their promise in academics and fundamental research.
	MemComputing co-founder Dr. Massimiliano Di Ventra wins 2020 Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology Massimiliano Di Ventra has received the 2020 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize for Theory. The professor of physics is recognized for his contributions to several areas of nanotechnology and condensed matter theory.
	Diamonds May Be Award-Winning Physicist’s Best Friend Assistant Professor of Physics Chunhui Du is one of 36 scientists and engineers whose creative, basic research proposal was recently selected to receive the U.S. Air Force's Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) Award. Du’s nanoscale quantum sensing technique was developed by her and members of the Du Research Group at UC San Diego.
	Scientists Use Geometry to Track Cell Migrations Physicists Wouter-Jan Rappel and Yuansheng Cao in the Department of Physics look beyond chemical cues to follow movement of cells in fruit flies with potential impact for cancer research.
	UC San Diego Experts Elected AAAS Fellows in 2020 Dean of Physical Sciences Steven Boggs and Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Ted Molinski are recognized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their respective contributions in astrophysics and organic chemistry.
	UC San Diego Leads Research that Earns Gordon Bell Special Prize Computational Chemist Rommie Amaro and her research team win one of the most coveted awards in supercomputing for research related to COVID-19.
	Clearing the Course for Glycans in Development of Flu Drugss Researchers demonstrate molecular binding mechanism that could change approach to designing influenza treatments.
	Energizing Plastics Renewability, Recycling Efforts Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Michael Burkart and Professor of Nanoengineering Jon Pokorski are among the researchers who met the U.S. Department of Energy’s Plastics Innovation Challenge, earning funding for their projects designed to improve plastics recycling technologies.
	Behind SWITCHFOOT: The UC San Diego Stories Q&A with UC San Diego alumni Switchfoot band members reveals fun fact about inspiration from a chemistry course.
	Tibetan Snow, Ice Pack New Insights into Environmental, Climatic Change A recent study of aerosols, snow and ice samples from the Third Pole narrows down the region’s complex nitrogen cycles at work in the atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere, and, potentially, the biosphere. Distinguished Professor Mark Thiemens and alumnus Mang Lin conducted the study.
	A Chapter of Renewal Student Success Center coalesces efforts to resurrect underrepresented STEM student group.
	Making Heads or Tails Out of Phospholipid Synthesis Breakthrough research adds to the understanding of creating lipids in artificial cells and of the origins and evolution of cellular membranes.
	Nobel Laureate, Pioneer in Atmospheric Chemistry Mario Molina Dies Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awardee and Distinguished Professor Mario Molina will be remembered for dedicating his life to research and working to protect our environment.
	Experiments Confirm Sugary Shield Acts to Disguise SARS-CoV-2’s Spike New results from research led by Computational Chemist and Biophysicist Rommie Amaro allow drug developers to understand areas of the spike most vulnerable to vaccines.
	Ambitious Project to Understand Cellular Evolution Underway Project focuses on lipids (fat molecules) as the starting point to understand the evolution of eukaryotic cells, carrying implications for human health and disease.
	Astronomers Take a Closer Look at the Centers of Galaxies New study reveals a diverse range of types and locations of clouds across various active galactic nuclei and their host galaxies.
	How big money is powering a massive hunt for alien intelligence Physics Professor Shelley Wright contributes a feature photo and details about the Pulsed All-sky Near-infrared Optical SETI (PANOSETI), an all-sky telescope able to detect ultrashort laser pulses across all optical wavelengths, in this Science Magazine article.
	Sleuthing Their Way to Discovery with a New Microscope Chemists Wei Xiong and Haoyuan Wang hunt down tiny molecules that aren’t easy to see, which is why they developed an instrument that magnifies the molecular clarity of hydrogen-bond interactions to boost biomimetics.
	UC San Diego Mathematics Alumnus Gives $100,000 Richard Libby ('80, BA; '82, MA; PhD, UC Santa Cruz, ’90) tallied a lot of zeroes for the benefit of the university’s Department of Mathematics and the Rady School of Management. His enthusiasm for applying mathematics to business finance, particularly market risk assessment, is demonstrated through his gift of $100,000 in support of graduate studies and research. Libby also agreed to additional support of the math department’s most critical needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
	Machine Learning Helps Plasma Physics Researchers Understand Turbulence Transport Professor of Physics Patrick Diamond has been advancing fundamental concepts in plasma physics for more than four decades. He recently worked with graduate student Robin Heinonen on a model reduction study that used the Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center to reveal new insights that could advance fusion energy use.
	Uncontrolled ‘cAMP’ Helps Spark Rare Liver Cancer UC San Diego researchers engineered fluorescent tools that combine the gene editing technique CRISPR and biosensor technologies to look inside cells in a whole new way. Their findings show that a major protein that binds to the signaling molecule cAMP can form membraneless organelles in human cells.
	Virtually Helping Students Succeed Rapid response times help when it comes to managing a crisis—the coronavirus pandemic is proof of that. To respond quickly and nimbly requires strategy, planning and implementation. Adaptability helps, too. These are approaches practiced by the Division of Physical Sciences’ new Student Success Center in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
	Astrophysicists Locate 100 New Sunny Neighbors with Citizens’ Help A new discovery by a Backyard Worlds team of citizen scientists and international astrophysicists, including researchers from UC San Diego, shows that about 100 cool brown dwarfs, never before observed, are in residence in the solar community.
	Diamonds, Pencils Inspire Scientists to Create Multipurpose Protein Tool Findings from a group of researchers, including a UC San Diego team, show how it’s possible to create a protein “multitool.” Their results provide a deeper understanding of how society can develop new materials with unique properties to solve real-world problems.
	How Do You Solve a Moon Mystery? Fire a Laser at It Researchers have used reflective prisms left on the moon’s surface for decades, but they’ve seen problems with their effectiveness. Professor of Physics and Associate Director of CASS Thomas Murphy contributes insights.
	Chemist Helps Bridge Underrepresented Minority Gap in Science Brian Leigh, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, recently received the American Chemistry Society Bridge Program (ACS-BP) Award, making UC San Diego one of six bridge sites for underrepresented minorities in the nation.
	Walking the Walk of Change Professor Stacey Brydges is named as the first vice chair of equity, diversity, inclusion and climate (VC-EDIC) in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
	Ammonium Nitrate: What Is It and Where Is It Stored in San Diego County? Chemistry Professor Brian Leigh provides information about ammonium nitrate to NBC7 Reporter Alexis Rivas.

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