News

Welcome, Prof. Melinda Soares-Furtado!

Melinda Soares-Furtado, an observational astronomer, joined the UW–Madison faculty this fall on a joint appointment in the astronomy and physics departments. She earned her undergrad degree at UC-Santa Cruz, then her doctorate in astrophysical sciences …

Welcome, Prof. Britton Plourde!

Condensed matter experimentalist Britton Plourde received his bachelor’s in physics and music performance from the University of Michigan. He then went to grad school at UIUC, earning a PhD in physics and a master’s in music …

UW–Madison joins new NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky

This post is modified from the original news story from Northwestern University A large multi-institutional collaboration— led by Northwestern University and including UW–Madison physics professors Keith Bechtol, Kyle Cranmer, and Moritz Münchmeyer — has received a …

HAWC detection of an ultra-high-energy gamma-ray bubble around a microquasar

Welcome, Professor Ben Woods!

Condensed matter theorist Ben Woods joined the department as an assistant professor this fall. Originally from a small town in North Dakota, Woods studied physics at the University of North Dakota and earned a PhD in …

Baha Balantekin wins 2025 APS Bethe Prize

Congrats to Prof. Baha Balantekin on winning the American Physical Society’s 2025 Hans A. Bethe prize! The Bethe prize is awarded to recognize outstanding work in theory, experiment or observation in the areas of astrophysics, …

Britton Plourde elected Fellow of the American Physical Society

Congratulations to Prof. Britton Plourde for being elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society! Plourde was elected “For important contributions to the physics and operation of superconducting qubits, including the development of techniques for …

UW-Madison, Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science strengthen research partnership

Welcome, Prof. Elio König!

This fall, condensed matter theorist Elio König returned to Madison as an assistant professor of physics. König began his education in Germany and Italy, earning a PhD from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in 2014. …

Rogerio Jorge receives first grant as a professor

Congrats to Prof. Rogerio Jorge who was awarded his first grant as a professor! The three-year, $500,000 National Science Foundation grant, titled “Moment Approach to Multiscale Plasmas,” will be used to fund a graduate student …

New Chair to continue department’s strengths, commit to diversity and inclusion

The department of physics is pleased to announce that Prof. Kevin Black has been named new department chair. His three-year term began July 1, 2024, succeeding Prof. Mark Eriksson. Black says he is looking to …

Daniel Den Hartog earns Progress Award from Laser Society of Japan

Congrats to plasma scientist Daniel Den Hartog who is part of a team that was recently awarded a Progress Award from the Laser Society of Japan. This award is given to research that has shown …

Pupa Gilbert earns WARF Named Professorship

Physics professor Pupa Gilbert is one of eight UW–Madison faculty awarded WARF Named Professorships, which come with $100,000 and honor faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge, primarily through their research …

Mark Eriksson named Steenbock Professor

This story was originally published by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research Mark Eriksson, professor of physics, and Mikhail Feldman, professor of mathematics, have been named recipients of UW–Madison Steenbock Professorships. “This professorship is …

UW–Madison Physics alum and theoretical physicist named WIPAC director

Madison Symmetric Torus operates stable plasma at ten times the Greenwald Limit

If net-positive fusion energy is to ever be achieved, density is key: the more atomic nuclei crashing into each other the more efficient the reaction will be. Nearly 40 years ago, Martin Greenwald identified a …

Justin Edwards earns National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

Physics PhD and ECE MS student Justin Edwards has been awarded the prestigious National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship in the category of Physics (including Optics), with a proposal titled “Multispectral imaging in the …

First plasma marks major milestone in UW–Madison fusion energy research

A fusion device at the University of Wisconsin–Madison generated plasma for the first time Monday, opening a door to making the highly anticipated, carbon-free energy source a reality. Over the past four years, a team …

DARPA Researchers Highlight Application Areas for Quantum Computing

This post is modified from one originally published by DARPA Amid efforts to explore quantum computers’ transformative potential, one foundational element remains missing from the discussion about quantum: What are the benchmarks that predict whether …

New NOvA results add to mystery of neutrinos

The international NOvA collaboration presented new results at the Neutrino 2024 conference in Milan, Italy, on June 17. The collaboration doubled their neutrino data since their previous release four years ago, including adding a new low-energy sample …