News
School of Physics and Astronomy

Led by principal investigator Michael Zemcov, an assistant professor in RIT’s School of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Detectors, the experiment aims to better understand extragalactic background light, which traces the history of galaxies back to the formation of the first stars in the universe.

RIT students Emily Wilson and Teresa Symons are co-recipients of the Outstanding Graduate Woman Achievement Award for their dedication and leadership on RIT’s Graduate Student Advisory Council. Wilson and Symons are Ph.D. students in the astrophysical sciences and technology program in the School of Physics and Astronomy and co-chairs of the Graduate Student Advisory Council.

RIT graduate programs are among the best in the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report annual statistical survey of graduate programs.

RIT's College of Liberal Arts honored student achievements in writing with 15 writing awards on Friday, March 19. This year marks the 41st year the awards were presented, though the first time the ceremony was held virtually.

Assistant Professor Pratik Dholabhai from RIT’s School of Physics and Astronomy received an NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award and grant for his five-year project to conduct fundamental physics research on complex materials in solid oxide fuel cells.

Forbes features work by Joel Kastner, professor in the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science and program faculty in the astrophysical sciences and technology graduate program, in its 10 most important Hubble photos from 2020.

Images of two iconic planetary nebulae taken by the Hubble Space Telescope are revealing new information about how they develop their dramatic features. Researchers from RIT and Green Bank Observatory presented new findings about the Butterfly Nebula and the Jewel Bug Nebula at the 237th meeting of the American Astronomical Society on Friday, Jan. 15.

Several School of Physics and Astronomy faculty secured large grants as principal investigators during a banner summer.

Professor Seth Hubbard is an expert in designing, growing, and fabricating solar cells and said that if the cost of these highly efficient solar cells can be reduced enough, they could be used to help devices ranging from smartphones to drones to cars.

The LIGO Scientific Collaboration and Virgo Collaboration released a catalog of results from the first half of its third observing run (O3a), and scientists have detected more than three times as many gravitational waves than the first two runs combined. Several researchers from RIT’s Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation were heavily involved in analyzing the gravitational waves and understanding their significance.

Professor Emeritus Linda Barton is the 2021 recipient of the Jonathan F. Reichert and Barbara Wolff-Reichert Award for Excellence in Advanced Laboratory Instruction.

RIT’s Future Photon Initiative (FPI) and L3Harris have entered into a new industry partnership to develop quantum technologies. The partners will begin developing next steps for experiments and analysis focused on quantum information processing for communication, sensing, and computing.