Department Of Physics And Astronomy

Through a partnership with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Vanderbilt astronomers use big data to see the cosmos as a stop-motion movie instead of a snapshot. Read More

Senior Lecturer in Physics and Astronomy Savanna Starko originally intended to become a high school math teacher. But when a battle with thyroid cancer disrupted her first year of college, a professor helped her see how physics might be a better fit. Read More

The intermediate-mass black hole first observed in May 2019 presents an entirely new category of black hole. Read More

Dianna Cowern, from YouTube’s "The Physics Girl," will be featured at a talk on Thursday, Feb. 28, in the Stevenson Center, Room 4309. Cowern will discuss using videos to share science and enrich the learning experience, in and out of the classroom. Read More

Vanderbilt faculty and alumni are featured at the free Southern Festival of Books, happening this weekend at War Memorial Plaza and the downtown Nashville Public Library. Read More

Astronomers have come up with a new and improved method for measuring the masses of millions of solitary stars, especially those with planetary systems. Read More

The Office of the Provost, as part of the Provost's Initiative to Enhance Research and Scholarship (PIERS), is providing a campuswide educational workshop Oct. 9 to support the diversification of faculty research portfolios. Read More

After hours of thinking about theoretical physics, senior Zachary Bednarke relaxes by playing his trumpet. While running through scales on the instrument, he is also, technically, still doing schoolwork. Read More

Data scientist Dave Spiegel presents a physics and astronomy colloquium, “From Exo-Worlds to Health Monitoring to Clothing Personalization,” Dec. 8. Read More

Two Vanderbilt physicists, Keivan Stassun and Kalman Varga, have been elected fellows of the American Physical Society. Read More

by Emery Little  The fifth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey is collecting data about our universe for  Vanderbilt University astronomers and other project members to use to explore the formation of distant galaxies and supermassive black holes, and to map the… Read More

John M. Seigenthaler will moderate a panel discussion titled "The Limits of Free Speech?" Oct. 10 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Vanderbilt Central Library's Community Room. Read More

Nine faculty members who hold endowed chairs were honored and donors were thanked during a festive celebration Sept. 26 at the Student Life Center. Read More

Observational astrophysicist Jedidah Isler, a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt, has been selected as a member of the National Geographic Society's inaugural class of Emerging Explorers. Read More

Ernest Jones, one of the last of the generation of scientists to have worked on the Manhattan Project, died Dec. 19. He was 97. Read More

James Peebles, the Albert Einstein Professor of Science, Emeritus, at Princeton University, is giving a free public lecture on campus Oct. 22 titled "The Renaissance of General Relativity." Read More

This year's Forman lecturer, Chad Orzel, will talk about social media for communicating science. Read More

Professor of Astronomy David Weintraub will discuss his popular book "Religions and Extraterrestrial Life" Feb. 12 at the University Club. Read More

Now in its third year, the SEC Faculty Travel Grant Program provides support for selected faculty members to collaborate with colleagues at other Southeastern Conference member institutions. Read More

David Weintraub's new book explores how leaders in the world's major religions will react to the discovery of extraterrestrial life. Read More