Physics and Astronomy

News

The latest issue of our department newsletter, Schrödinger’s Tiger, is now available on our website. Read it here: Schrödinger’s Tiger - Fall 2012.

Public Lecture: History of the Universe from the Beginning to End, by 2006 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Dr. John Mather (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center). 28 Nov 2012, 7:00 pm, Self Auditorium, Strom Thurmond Institute. Reception follows.

Tenure-track faculty search  in Physics and Astronomy. The Department of Physics and Astronomy at Clemson University seeks candidates to fill one or more faculty positions at the tenure-track Assistant Professor or higher level to begin August 16, 2013.  We are considering applications from all existing research areas and are particularly interested in experimental biophysics and ion beam physics; the latter may utilize an NSF-funded EBIT device that is being installed in the department. more ›

Public Shows in the Planetarium -- Thursdays at 7:00 pm. Contact the department (656-3416) for reservations.

See Photos from the Transit of Venus from Tuesday 5 June 2012 in the Carillon Garden.

NASA Launched Five Rockets with Clemson Payloads in Five Minutes. On 27 March 2012, NASA successfully launched five suborbital Terrier rockets eighty seconds apart from Wallops Island, VA. These carried the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) led by Clemson Professors Miguel Larsen and Gerald Lehmacher. The rockets released trimethyl aluminum tracer at precisely timed intervals to track the winds at altitude 65 miles and above. more ›

Marc-Andre Schaeuble, a Junior Physics major from Germany, won a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Marc does research on precision measurements of the abundances of elements in stars with Dr. Jeremy King.

Priyanka Bhattacharya was named the Outstanding Graduate Researcher in the College of Engineering and Science, and has received the Clemson University Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award for 2012. She has also been awarded the Linus Pauling Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship with the Pacific Northwestern National Laboratory. She works in Biophysics with Dr. Pu-Chun Ke, and is the co-author of eight refereed journal papers.

Ryan Schurr was named the Outstanding Senior in Science in the College of Engineering and Science, for his excellence in course work and in his research in biophysics.

Professor Peter McNulty has been elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, “for contributions to radiation-induced soft errors in microelectronics”. 

Terry M. Tritt, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Physics at Clemson University, has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the scientific society's highest member honor. The award cites his "career-long contributions to the science and engineering of thermoelectric materials, the industrial application of that knowledge, and the education and promotion of numerous young scientists and engineers." more ›

Congratulations to Dr. Apparao Rao on his election to the rank of AAAS Fellow. Each year the Council elects members whose "efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished." Dr. Rao is being honored for distinguished contributions to carbon science, particularly fullerenes and carbon nanotubes through synthesis and Raman spectroscopy, and elucidating their structure-application and fundamental properties.

The conference "Time Domain Astrophysics with Swift" was held at the Madren Conference Center at Clemson University from October 24-26, 2011.

On August 22, 2011, the Physics and Astronomy department hosted its first Symposium for Introduction to Research in Physics and Astronomy (SIRPA). The full-day event consisted of graduate student and faculty research presentations followed by a poster session at the Clyde V. Madren Conference Center by the banks of Lake Hartwell. more >

The conference "New Frontiers in Quantum Foundations, CUPI 2011" was held at the Clyde V. Madren Center at Clemson University from March 9-11, 2011. The conference was co-sponsored by the University and the Perimeter Institute.

Clemson biophysicist awarded $2.2 million from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Emil Alexov, a Clemson biophysicist, has received a grant from the National Institute of General Medical Science, National Institutes of Health. The award of approximately $2.2 million is to maintain and further develop the software DelPhi by advancing the methods and algorithms for modeling electrostatic potential in nanosystems. This five year project is a collaboration with co-investigator Dr. Walter Rocchia of the Italian Institute of Technology.

Former Apollo astronaut to present scholarship to Clemson student. Charles Moss Duke Jr., a retired Apollo astronaut and U.S. Air Force brigadier general, will deliver Patrick Johnson, a junior, a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) during Clemson's homecoming football game against Miami. more ›

New Highly Charged Ion Beamline Will Bring "Star Stuff" into Clemson. Associate Professor Chad Sosolik and four Clemson Co-PIs were awarded a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation to build a new facility focused on highly charged ion research. This electron beam ion trap-based beamline will be only the third of its kind in the U.S. and will explore diverse problems in surface physics, electronic materials, laboratory astrophysics, and fusion reactor design. more ›

Clemson Senior Kemper Talley selected as Goldwater Scholarship Winner. Kemper Talley was one four Clemson University students chosen as recipients of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, which is intended to foster and encourage the pursuit of careers in the fields of mathematics, engineering and the natural sciences. more ›

Clemson Physics Alumni Receives NASA Einstein Fellowship. Matthew Kerr, a 2004 graduate of the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy and now a Ph.D. student at the University of Washington has won a prestigious NASA Einstein Fellowship. He will conduct research on gamma-ray pulsars beginning this Fall at Stanford University. more ›

Clemson physicist Apparao Rao named Fellow of the American Physical Society. Clemson University professor of physics and astronomy Apparao Rao has been named a Fellow of the American Physical Society. Fellows are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to physics. Fellowship is limited to no more than one half of 1 percent of the membership. more ›

Clemson physics professor receives Governor’s Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. Clemson University physics professor Terry Tritt will receive the 2008 Governor's Award for Excellence in Scientific Research at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the governor's office in Columbia. more ›

Associate Professor Pu-Chun Ke Winner of 2008 NSF Career Award. more ›