Physics And Astronomy

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, emphasizing multi-messenger astronomy, utilized strategic funding from a Scaling Success Internal Award to secure a $1.7 million NSF grant. This collaborative journey, focusing on inclusive STEM education and innovative training approaches, highlights the power of adaptability and vision in research endeavors. Read More

The U.S. Department of Energy is funding two Vanderbilt early-career nuclear physicists’ exploration of the universe’s properties and composition. Raghav Kunnawalkam Elayavalli and Jean-François Paquet, assistant professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and members of the multidisciplinary Vanderbilt Initiative for Gravity, Waves and Fluids, have been identified as among the nation’s most exceptional researchers. Read More

Aging stars expand and eventually destroy planets in their inner systems. Or do they? A team of researchers that includes Keivan Stassun finds evidence of a planet that survived its star’s transformation, and that is reshaping our understanding of planetary and stellar evolution. Read More

Led by Stephen Taylor, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, a collaborative effort across 88 institutions has identified evidence of slowly undulating gravitational waves passing through our galaxy. Read More

Vanderbilt University researchers are scheduled to reveal an exciting update in the realm of pulsars and gravitational waves from National Science Foundation headquarters on June 29. On June 30, they will return to Nashville to share what they found and what the discovery means for our future understanding of the cosmos. Read More

The Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, a partnership to create equitable pathways to STEM, has been awarded a Sloan Foundation grant for the first U.S. graduate certificate course in multi-messenger astronomy.  Read More

Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation at Vanderbilt University, has been appointed to the National Science Board by President Joe Biden. Read More

Karan Jani, professor of physics and astronomy, will discuss exploring the application of artificial intelligence to gravity wave signals on Friday, Dec. 2, from 1 to 2 p.m. The event, hosted by the Data Science Institute, will explore how models designed to interpret human speech and other AI models might be adapted to solve cosmic challenges. Read More

Vanderbilt University has created a laser safety program and appointed a certified laser safety officer, significant steps in the university’s ongoing efforts to establish its Environmental Health and Safety Department. Vanderbilt announced it would transition its research EHS function from Vanderbilt University Medical Center to the university earlier this year. Read More

Keivan Stassun, Stevenson Professor of Physics and Astronomy and director of the Frist Center for Autism and Innovation, is a co-author of the study “Increasing Diversity and Inclusion in the Leadership of Competed Space Missions.” The report will be published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine on May 18. Read More

Kelly Holley-Bockelmann, Stevenson Professor of Astrophysics, has received the 2022 Mentor Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The award is for individuals who have mentored significant numbers of underrepresented students who are working toward doctorates in STEM. Read More

International astronomy collaboration strengthens evidence for signal that may hint at ultra-low frequency gravitational waves. Read More

A team of Vanderbilt and Vanderbilt University Medical Center faculty are working together to produce a series of children’s science books aimed at fourth grade–level readers. Read More

John G. Geer, Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science, has announced changes in the dean’s office that will drive further excellence and support a strategic approach to propel the college forward. Read More

The School of Medicine Basic Sciences brought together a biologist, a Christian theologist, a philosopher and an astrophysicist June 17 for a lab-to-table conversation exploring their views and academic perspectives on the origins of life. Read More

How do academics with diverse areas of expertise view the origins of life? A June 17 virtual discussion hosted by the School of Medicine Basic Sciences will bring together perspectives from single-cell biology, theology, space and time and metaphysical philosophy to explore the unique and common understandings among the fields. Read More

Charles E. Roos, a retired physics professor who built his department’s research in areas ranging from superconducting wire to recycling technology, has died. He was 93. 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

Psychology researchers develop new methodologies and representations of how people react to incoming information to better understand complex decision-making. Read More

Following the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission, Vanderbilt astronomer Keivan Stassun leads the next phase of discovery to find atmospheres like our own. Read More