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Faculty Highlights/ResearchAmitava Bhattacharjee has left the Department and taken a position as professor in the Department of Physics at the University of New Hampshire, where he was also recently named the Peter T. Paul Chair of Space Science within the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space (EOS).
In October 2002, Benjamin Chandran attended the annual meeting of Project Kaleidoscope in Washington, D.C. The meeting focused on ways to improve college-level education in science, math, and engineering, and to enhance undergraduate education by providing students with opportunities for collaborative research. Michael Flatté has been appointed to the Univ. of Iowa Research Council. The Research Council is a University Charter Committee that advises the Vice President for Research on matters pertaining to the University's research enterprise. Kenneth Gayley was promoted to the position of Associate Professor with tenure. Prof. Gayley was married to Jane Bradbury this past December.
John Goree was selected as an APS Distinguished Lecturer in plasma physics for 2002-2003. As Distinguished Lecturer, he traveled across the country to lecture at institutions of higher education. The Plasma Physics Travel Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Energy funded his travel. In October Prof. Goree and Michael Miller will perform an experiment aboard NASA's KC-135 aircraft, under weightlessness conditions. This is the same aircraft that is used for training astronauts, and is popularly called the "Vomit Comet." It flies at parabolic trajectories, each providing 22 seconds of weightlessness. The experimenters will be seated on the cabin floor in front of their two racks of equipment, which include a vacuum chamber where a dusty plasma will be formed. The flights will take place out of NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
On June 2, 2003, the Mars Express spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Prof. Donald Gurnett and his research group provided the transmitter and antenna system for the Mars Express Radar Sounder, which is designed to search for subsurface water at Mars and to study the Martian ionosphere. The spacecraft will arrive at and be placed in orbit around Mars on Christmas Day, 2003. Richard Hichwa was promoted to the position of Professor.
Craig Kletzing received a $450,000 NSF award in the investigation of Alfvén wave physics related to space plasmas. Working with co-investigators Prof. Fred Skiff and Dr. Scott Bounds, these researchers will investigate the fundamental physical properties of a wave which occurs in both space and laboratory plasmas called the Alfvén wave. These waves are thought to play an important role in creating the aurora borealis or northern lights as well as being important in other regions of space such as the solar wind and the Earth's magnetopause. The lab studies will test a set of models for auroral particle acceleration by measuring the shape of the waves as well as the accelerated electrons. Prof. Kletzing has also been elected to the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Educational Policy Committee and will serve a 3-year term.
Cornelia Lang received a $271,314 NSF award entitled "The Violent Interstellar Medium in the Galactic Center." This three-year research project will include observations of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy across the electromagnetic spectrum, primarily at radio and X-ray wavelengths. She and her students will focus on understanding the physical interactions of the stellar and interstellar sources in the center of our Milky Way Galaxy and the implications for understanding the nuclei of all galaxies. Mark Madsen was promoted to the position of Professor. Usha Mallik has been elected a member of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate. Prof. Mallik is also working as an apprentice in the University's Provost Office.
Yannick Meurice received a UI Faculty Scholar Award for 2003-2006. He will use the award for research involving his recently developed theoretical methods for problems related to the origin of elementary particle mass and density of the early universe. Prof. Meurice has also been promoted to the position of Professor. Robert Mutel has been named as a member of the University's provost search committee. Charles Newsom played a primary role in the design and construction of the new multimillion dollar testbeam facility at Fermilab. Electrons, pions and protons produced in the beamline complex will be directed onto prototype collider detectors beginning in early December 2003.
Mary Hall Reno received a UI Faculty Scholar Award for 2003-2006. She plans to perform research developing and refining theoretical predictions for production, interaction, and detection of neutrinos. The particles aid in our understanding of the cosmos and the theory of elementary particles. Prof. Reno has also been elected a member of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate.
Vincent Rodgers recently received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation for the proposal entitled "From Diffeomorphisms to Dark Matter." String theories suggest that a particular field might be present in gravitation that is absent in Einstein's theory of general relativity. This peculiar field is mathematically the gravitational cousin of the vector potential that is seen in electricity and magnetism. If this field manifests itself in nature it might be a natural source for dark energy and/or dark matter. |
The Department is currently inviting applications for two faculty positions whose terms would begin Fall 2004: a tenure-track assistant or associate professor in experimental space-based astronomy and a tenure-track assistant professor in the area of theoretical plasma physics. Details on these positions and other employment opportunities in the Department can be found on the web at http://www.physics.uiowa.edu/openings/.
The experimental space-based astronomy faculty position requires a strong background in research and instrumentation for space-based astronomical observations. We are open to a broad range of topics in space-based astronomy and astrophysics. Current departmental member research efforts include magnetospheric and planetary space physics, plasma astrophysics, galactic and extragalactic radio astronomy, X-ray astronomy, stellar wind theory, and particle astrophysics. A Ph.D. in astronomy, physics or a related discipline is required and a background in the design/development/ implementation of astronomical instrumentation for space-based missions is preferred. If you would like to be considered for this position, please send a CV, statements of research and teaching interests, and arrange for three letters of recommendation to be sent to: Chair of the Astronomy Faculty Search Committee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1479. For the fullest consideration application materials should arrive by January 15, 2004.
The plasma theory faculty position focuses on research in plasma kinetics
and transport, waves in shear flows, linear and nonlinear wave interactions,
dusty plasmas, strongly-coupled plasmas, plasma sources, and other topics. Closely
related efforts within the Department include space plasma physics, physics
of the solar corona, and plasma astrophysics. To be considered for this position,
please send a CV, statements of research and teaching interests, and provide
the names and contact information of three references to: Chair, Plasma Faculty
Search Committee, Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Iowa,
Iowa City, IA 52242-1479. A Ph.D. is required by the time of appointment. For
full consideration application materials should arrive by December 15, 2003.
| Last updated November 13, 2003. © The University of Iowa 2003. All rights reserved. Contact information. Send questions or comments to the webmaster. The Department of Physics and Astronomy is a part of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. |
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