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Physics Professor’s Work in Liquid Crystals Earns Prestigious Medal

May 13, 2019
Physics Professor Linda Hirst has been named this year’s recipient of the British Liquid Crystal Society’s C. Hilsum Medal for her contributions to liquid crystal science and technology. She journeyed to Leeds, England, to receive the prestigious medal, attend an awards dinner and deliver the...

Grad Student Discovers, Patents Process to Create “Nanofoams” in Liquid Crystals

February 25, 2019
It sounds like an easy-to-follow recipe from the world of molecular gastronomy: Dissolve nanoparticles in liquid crystals and cool to form frothy nanofoams, tiny tubes and hollow microspheres. But what fifth-year doctoral student Sheida Riahinasab and physics Professor Linda Hirst actually...

New Consortium Seeks to Expose Students to a Galaxy of Opportunities

November 13, 2018
Imagine exploring the cores of stars to understand — and ultimately control — the type of fusion that’s taking place. High-energy density (HED) science is the study of properties and behavior of matter and radiation in extreme temperatures and pressures common to the deep...

$5 Million Cal-Bridge Grant Aims to Boost Physics, Astronomy Ph.D. Diversity

October 11, 2018
UC Merced is part of a concerted effort to dramatically increase diversity in physics and astronomy over the next five years. The campus is one of nine University of California campuses and 15 California State University campuses awarded a $5 million grant from the National Science Foundation...

Physics Highlights from 2017-18 Celebrated at Department Social

October 5, 2018
Highlights from the Physics Department’s accomplishments during the 2017-2018 academic year were celebrated at the fall Physics Department Social on October 5. Department Chair Ajay Gopinathan shared the following items: New faculty: Daniel Beller joined the department from Brown...

Triangles of Quantum Dots Create Controllable Current Circulation

September 20, 2018
Chih-Chun Chien, Michael Scheibner, and collaborators have discovered a simple setup exploiting the quantum nature of electrons and triangular geometry to induce spontaneous current circulation between three quantum dots, in a new paper published in Europhysics Letters. In contrast to...

Even in classical diffusive motion, topologically protected edge modes can be found

September 20, 2018
Classical analogs of solid state topological insulators, which support protected sound or light waves along their edges, are being realized in cutting-edge soft matter research. In a new paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scienes, Kinjal Dasbiswas and collaborators...

Frustration and Compromise in Flocking Cells Produce New Migration Patterns

September 12, 2018
Even if some members of a goal-driven group don’t seem to work well with others — even if the whole group is extremely frustrated — the group can still compromise and find new ways to produce a successful outcome. This sounds like a political allegory, but it’s actually a...

UC Solar Awarded $1.1M Grant to Build Solar-Powered Water Purification Systems

July 16, 2018
UC Solar received a $1.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office (SETO) to develop solar-thermal desalination technologies that reduce the cost of creating fresh water from otherwise unusable waters such as seawater, brackish water and polluted water. UC...

Grad Programs Make U.S. News Rankings Debut

March 20, 2018
For the first time, UC Merced’s doctoral programs in the sciences have been ranked among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 edition of Best Graduate Schools. The School of Engineering celebrated its third appearance in the rankings, and this year...

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