KITP Ranks First in Research Impact
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Vol. 4, No. 1 • Spring / Summer 2008 KITP Ranks First INSIDE… In Research Impact Special for Science, p. 2 New Permanent Member, p. 2 OW CAN THE PERFORMANCE as “traditionally…one of the highest ranked Brain Design Workshop, p. 3 of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical scientific groups and so serves as a gold HPhysics be measured and assessed? standard.” Presumably that standard also Star Formation, pp. 4-5 Anne Kinney in an article published in applies to the facility with the highest the Nov. 13, 2007, issue of the Proceedings impact-index. Coordinating Housing, p. 7 of the National Academy of Sciences presents Assessing the quality of KITP Rice Endows a new way of assessing “National Scientific programming performance has proved Upcoming, p. 8 Facilities and Their Science Impact on challenging for the institute’s directors Fund to Make Nonbiomedical Research.” Her approach because much of the measurable effect in enables comparison of the impact of research terms of quality research is manifested in fostered in conjunction with a given facility. publications by visiting scientists whose KITP More The KITP with a score of 6.56 registers the primary institutional affiliation is elsewhere. Tom Abel highest impact-index reported. This way in which KITP differs from The KITP is not only the highest other institutions with which it is being Family Friendly comparatively evaluated is underscored in ranked National Science Foundation (NSF) paper because being cited in papers by other an explanatory footnote to the PNAS article: facility, but the highest ranked of all research scientists demonstrates the impact of the FOR TWO DECADES physicists visiting “KITP is a theoretical physics institute that facilities, including (in order from second to cited work on the research of others. The the KITP have been treated to stunning regularly organizes conferences and long- fourth) the highest ranked department— higher the impact, the more significant is the views of the Santa Ynez Mountains from term workshops in physical sciences. Many Astronomy at Berkeley with an impact-index research of the source. a rental house on La Coronilla Drive near of the authors of papers with KITP affiliation of 6.30; the highest ranked university— The h index, pertaining to the body of a Santa Barbara’s Mesa district. The owners are visitors, with other home institutions.” Harvard with an impact-index of 6.15; and researcher’s work, is a more definitive indicator of that property, Ann and Myron (“Mike”) The key relevant question addressed the highest ranked national laboratory— of overall quality. The h index of a scientist is Rice, enjoyed cordial interactions with in the PNAS article is how to compare Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC) with an the largest number of his/her publications cited their physicist tenants and with KITP research facilities whose size and nature differ impact-index of 5.65. more than h times. The bigger an individual’s housing coordinator Monica Curry. That appreciably from one another. The answer is Kinney, who serves as director of the h index, the more highly cited papers the mutually gratifying, long-term relationship a “normalized h index.” astrophysics division in NASA’s science individual has published. This h index is now prompted Ann late last summer to phone The number of citations to a published mission directorate, describes Berkeley’s widely used to measure the citation impact of Curry to explore how the gift of the house paper is usually a good assessment of the Astronomy Department (with an impact- an individual. might benefit the KITP. index second only to KITP in her assessment) quality of the research reported in that The $1.4 million proceeds from the SEE KITP RANKS firST ON PAGE 2 property’s sale are being used to endow the “Drs. Ann and Myron Rice Family Fund for the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics.” Because the endowment was established in the form of a charitable remainder trust, Inside the Virtual World of the KITP: Ann has also generously added a cash gift ‘A Wonderland of Far-Seeing on the Web’ of $30,000 to enable the Family Fund to become operational in the spring of 2008. HE KITP WEB SitE is the opposite experts in every field, and the visual and sound wish every institution were set up to provide The Family Fund enables families– of “all-show/no-go.” It may, upon first quality is also more than adequate.” a similar resource, but at the moment the especially those in which the physicist inspection of the homepage at www. Ginsparg, professor of physics and KITP talk archive remains unique. It fits is also the mother of young children–to T kitp.ucsb.edu, look like a humdrum vehicle computing and information science at naturally within the KITP mission; it’s been participate in the weeks- and months-long analogous to the base-model Ford pick-up Cornell, pointed out, “Now I am already at a implemented superbly.” collaborative research opportunities that are circa 1997. But under that dated hood, so relatively elite institution, not exactly lacking A spontaneous email to KITP director the hallmark of KITP programming. to speak, lies the visionary apparatus of the for high quality seminars, but nonetheless David Gross from a Case Western Reserve KITP Director David Gross noted virtual KITP—a 10-year archive of scientific make the time to listen to KITP seminars graduate student in physics, Murad Mithani, that the percentage of KITP participants talks (now averaging 1,000 a attests to the usefulness of who are women is roughly the same as the year) ready for access worldwide the talk archive to somebody percentage of physicists who are women in in a number of formats Hits per year on KITP webservers formerly “without access to local the United States—i.e., 13 to 15 percent. variously combining audio resources.” “We aim to raise that percentage,” said and visual information for user 80 Mithani wrote of the talk Gross, “ultimately to 50 percent, and the reenactment. archive, “I just wanted to thank Rice gift serves as an example nationally Presiding over the virtual 70 you and your team for the great of the kind of effort required to make the KITP is web wizard and UCSB contribution that it is making in profession more attractive to women.” physics professor Douglas 60 the lives of so many people. The Family Fund was the brainchild of Eardley. It is, literally, his ear “To give you an example, I KITP development director Sarah Vaughan, creation as well as his province 50 did my undergrad almost 12 years who at the time of the Rice call to Curry, had though he insists that he ago in Pakistan. From then on I already extensively explored with Curry the couldn’t have done it without 40 couldn’t afford to study anymore difficulties would-be program participants, the able assistance of the KITP but always wished for a chance most notably women, face when uprooting computing staff, especially its 30 to study more of physics. Before children from the carefully crafted child- leader, Kevin Barron. coming to Case this year, during care and schooling routines tailored to their According to another 20 the last 5 years, the only physics Millions of hits/y home base. visionary on-line archivist and professor accessible to me was the Questionnaire after questionnaire physicist, Paul Ginsparg, “The 10 Kavli Institute. Every weekend, I returned by women physicists at the end of KITP talk archive is both an would treat myself to a few lectures their participation in KITP programs noted extraordinarily useful resource 0 that would make me see and how hard it had been to make from afar and an extraordinary proof of think about the world outside my expensive arrangements for the housing, concept.” Ginsparg developed 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 world. And now even at age 33, care, schooling, and transport of children the “arXiv,” which sounds like Doug Eardley so long after doing my bachelor’s, that enable the physicist to immerse herself and is an “archive” for electronic I still am able to understand in the intense, collaborative, face-to-face preprints of scientific papers in most of what is being discussed research experience afforded to visitors. physics, mathematics, computer science, and (ordinarily from home while using wireless in physics graduate courses only because the Ann Rice, an expert on personal and quantitative biology. headphones and doing something else, e.g., Kavli Institute allowed me to stay tuned to the familial finance, said, “I began by thinking Observing that the KITP’s “on-line changing a diaper). I can only imagine how latest in the world of physics.” that La Coronilla could serve as a permanent talks provide a surprisingly effective source of spectacularly useful and important it must be Gross credits the virtual KITP for temporary address for physicists—as a information otherwise unavailable,” Ginsparg for students and researchers in other parts of enabling the brick-and-mortar KITP to rental property gifted to the KITP. But as noted, “It helps that the KITP seminars are the country, and rest of the world, who do not remain “in the absolute vanguard of 21st- soon as I learned of the prospect of a Family uniformly of the highest quality, given by have comparable access to local resources. I century theoretical physics innovation.” SEE FAMILY FUND ON PAGE 7 SEE VirtUAL Kitp ON PAGE 6 ONDENSED MattER PHYSICIST atoms but large molecules or polymers—and Balents Becomes Leon Balents has been appointed a the residual forces between the molecules are Cpermanent member of the KITP.