The School of Physics and Astronomy includes the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics, the William I. D.
Fine Theoretical Physics Institute and the History of Science, Technology and Medicine. Physics at the University of Minnesota offers a world-class education and cutting edge research to its students. The physics program in the School has 43 faculty members, 17 emeritus faculty and 133 (Ph. and Masters) graduate students and about 110 undergraduate students. Our graduates go on to be high school t
12/01/2025
We're excited to welcome Oskar Vafek to the School of Physics and Astronomy's Fine Theoretical Physics Institute!
School welcomes Professor Oskar Vafek Oskar Vafek is a new professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy's Fine Theoretical Physics Institute. He comes to the University of Minnesota from Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he was director of the condensed matter theory group at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory....
11/17/2025
Professor Michel Janssen of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in History of Science, Technology and Medicine has won the American Physical Society (APS) 2026 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics. Learn more about this award below.
Janssen wins Abraham Pais Prize Professor Michel Janssen of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the Program in History of Science, Technology and Medicine has won the American Physical Society (APS) 2026 Abraham Pais Prize for History of Physics.Janssen shares the prize with his colleague Anthony Duncan of the University of Pi...
11/11/2025
DOE's quantum center SQMS Renewal Fuels UMN's Hunt for Dark Photons The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced a $125 million, five-year renewal for the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems (SQMS) Center, a national research center led by DOE's Fermilab. As a partner of the SQMS center since 2021, the University of Minnesota will play a critical, ong...
10/27/2025
Physics undergraduate student Megan Schoenzeit (B.S. '25) has been recognized by APS and NSF awards programs in one of the most competitive application cycles in the fellowship's history!
Megan Schoenzeit (B.S. '25) recognized by APS and NSF awards programs Megan Schoenzeit (B.S. Physics '25) was awarded both a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship in one of the most competitive application cycles in the fellowship's history and was one of three finalists for the American Physical Society (APS) LeRoy Apker Award, recognizing ou...
09/22/2025
A joint effort between the University of Minnesota and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has achieved the first end-to-end, real-time search for binary black hole (BBH) mergers based entirely on machine learning. Read on our website to learn more!
UMN and MIT launch first real-time machine learning search for colliding black holes A joint effort between the University of Minnesota and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has achieved the first end-to-end, real-time search for binary black hole (BBH) mergers based entirely on machine learning. The new algorithm was officially deployed into the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaborati...
08/04/2025
Read more about this discovery below!
Alien Aurora: Lysak, Sulaiman and Elliot find new plasma regime in Jupiter’s aurora Professor Robert Lysak, Assistant Professor Ali Sulaiman and Researcher Sadie Elliott, of the School of Physics and Astronomy recently published a paper in Physics Review Letters, “New Plasma Regime in Jupiter’s Auroral Zones,” on the first-ever detailed observation and analysis of a new type ...
07/21/2025
We had some visitors at Tate this morning!
06/23/2025
Tomorrow is the kickoff of our summer lecture series with speaker James Kakalios!
Visit the link below to learn more!
https://cse.umn.edu/physics/astounding-astrophysics
06/11/2025
Join the Physics and Astronomy department for an astounding series of FREE public lectures on amazing advances in astrophysics! Learn about colliding black holes, the first galaxies, solar flares and even Superman!
Bring the whole family to come and learn about the mysteries of the universe and what your local astrophysicists are doing to solve them every Tuesday from June 24th- July 29th at 7PM!
Follow the link below to learn more!
https://cse.umn.edu/physics/astounding-astrophysics?fbclid=IwY2xjawK2cctleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETF0bGNtUm1NYk0yWjdSYnlDAR43985NHyhFccdIi9NEgAFt3VYJhUJYXrbp_PEFUY260y4SO-9uEQ2XPnT5bA_aem_0lWJc15QrQl_-DWrsJEOxA
05/14/2025
Assistant Professor Nadja Strobbe of the School of Physics and Astronomy has received the 2025 Guillermo E. Borja award!
Strobbe wins Borja Award Assistant Professor Nadja Strobbe of the School of Physics and Astronomy has received the 2025 Guillermo E. Borja award. This honor recognizes promising young faculty members of the College of Science and Engineering for their research and scholarly accomplishments during their probationary period a...
05/01/2025
Professors Elias Puchner and Vincent Noireaux, along with their research groups, have shown that a popular class of fluorescent dyes changes color under certain conditions, causing complications for its use in biological imaging.
Learn more about what this means below!
Puchner and Noireaux labs discover new photochemistry useful for live-cell single-molecule microscopy Professors Elias Puchner and Vincent Noireaux, along with their research groups, have shown that a popular class of fluorescent dyes changes color under certain conditions, causing complications for its use in biological imaging. Their article, "Red Light Mediated Photoconversion of Silicon Rhodamin...
04/16/2025
The National Society of Black Physicists has connected with amazing groups across campus, including ASTRO Club!
The groups had a fun collaboration on February 26th, where they did Astro Jeopardy!