UCSB Physics 2018 Thank you for your support! News
With sincere appreciation we thank the UCSB Selected to host a Jan 2019 friends of the Physics Department for their generosity and continued belief in our mis- APS Conference for Undergraduate sion: to provide a world-class education, Women in Physics (CUWiP). perform cutting-edge research across broad and interdisciplinary fields, and to share ————————————— expertise and communicate the excitement Learning Assistants Program foster- of science locally and globally. ing Active Learning grows beyond
To learn more about providing support to introductory courses into upper our students, research, faculty, labs, or in- division Quantum Mechanics and frastructure, please visit us online or con- Statistical Mechanics. tact our Department Chair, Don Marolf, at ————————————— 805.893.3742. Undergraduate Diversity and Inclu- www.physics.ucsb.edu/giving sion in Physics Club Founded Jan Compact Muon Solenoid particle physics detector built on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN 2018. —————————————
The 2017 Worster Summer Re- search and Undergraduate Re- search Symposia showcased the achievements of 23 undergraduate Physics researchers.
—————————————
The Keck observatory telescopes are the most scientifically productive telescopes on earth. A one million dollar anonymous gift created a new high-level postdoc- toral program called Fundamental Physics Fellows. ————————————— A three million dollar irrevocable trust endows long-term support for Gravitational Physics. Lithium machine in the ultracold atomic physics lab of David Weld. Growth of UCSB Physics Majors 2017-18 Awards and Events
Message from the Chair Prof. John Martinis (UCSB & Google) announces forthcoming 49 q-bit quantum computer.
Dear Friends, Prof. Andy Howell (UCSB & LCOGT) and team observe optical counterpart to While we face significant LIGO gravitational wave signal. challenges, now is also a time of tremendous excite- Emeritus Prof. Joseph Polchinski wins ment and opportunity. Due 2017 Breakthrough Prize for trans- to the astonishing recent formative advances in quantum field theory, string theory, and quantum gravity. growth in our undergradu-
Donald Marolf, ate majors, we are now Prof. Andrea Young awarded 2018 New Department Chair among the 4 largest such Horizons Prize for co-invention of van programs in the U.S. In- der Waals heterostructures and discovery of new quantum Hall phases. deed, since 2008, the undergraduate Physics population has increased by a factor of 3.6, Prof. Lars Bildsten awarded 2017 Dan- more than any other US program! In the same nie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. time, the number of Physics degrees nationwide Enrollments shown above are for the top 20 US Physics increased by only a factor of 1.4. programs as ranked by U.S. News and World Report (USNWR). U. Washington (not shown) is also a large Prof. David Gross, Nobel Laureate In contrast, despite 5 new faculty joining in Fall program. elected Vice-President of the Ameri- 2017, we continue to have less faculty than any can Physical Society (APS). other top 20 U.S. physics program except U. Above and below, USNWR ranks are shown in paren- theses. after each school. E.g. UCSB (10). Penn. We have nevertheless maintained our Prof. Nathaniel Craig named Cottrell top 5-10 rankings (depending on the metric As shown below, since 2008 our enrollment has grown Scholar for work in Particle Physics Theory used) through the creativity and hard work of faster than that of any other large US program. and innovation in physics education. faculty, staff, postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates alike. New Bibilashvili Award for outstanding participants in the US Association of Young We also continue to lead in both research and Physicists Tournament honors contributions policy. We celebrate the arrival of new philan- of lecturer Tengiz Bibilashvili. thropic gifts, and are planning a new building with both space and facilities to allow contin- PhD Student Claire McClelland receives research and mentorship awards from the ued excellence throughout the 21st century. Materials Research Society. Great things await!
Sophomore Dolev Bluvstein awarded 2017 Barry Goldwater Scholarship.