Illinois Physics | The Grainger College of Engineering | UIUC

First atom-level structure of packaged viral genome reveals new properties, dynamics

The first atom-level model of a DNA-packed viral capsid reveals genome structure and possible new drug targets, University of Illinois researchers report. Pictured, from left: physics professor Aleksei Aksimentiev and research scientist Christopher Maffeo. 

Covey receives NSF CAREER Award

Illinois Physics Assistant Professor Jacob Covey has been selected for a 2024 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award. This prestigious award recognizes outstanding junior faculty who excel in both research and teaching and who demonstrate the potential to become lifetime leaders in their respective fields. Covey’s CAREER award will support a project titled, “Operating an Optical Atomic Clock Beyond the Laser Coherence and Below the Projection Limit.”

Over the past decade, atomic clocks that are based on optical transitions have emerged as the most accurate metrological tool ever developed. In fact, optical atomic clocks are so precise, they would lose less than one second in the entire age of the universe. 

DeMarco quoted in Courthouse News Service on Illinois' quantum investment

Meanwhile Brian DeMarco, Director of the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, said he thought the campus would be more of an "R & D center" where researchers could expand their experiments into quantum science and its applications.

"I don't know of any other states that have something like this," DeMarco said.

Inaugural Anthony J. Leggett Postdoctoral Fellow named

We are pleased to announce that the inaugural Anthony J. Leggett Postdoctoral Fellow will be Kyung-Su Kim, who is currently finishing his PhD in physics at Stanford University (Stanford, California). Kim has a bachelor of science degree from Seoul National University (Republic of Korea). He has done ground-breaking research in the theory of strongly interacting electron fluids in two dimensions, where he uncovered the existence of a novel metallic state coexisting with the Wigner crystal of electrons. Kyung-Su Kim has done innovative research in the physics of quantum Hall fluids. 


News


Research Highlights 

Click on a research highlight to vote for your favorite submission to the Research Highlight Science Writing Contest for graduate students.

Donor support for COVID-19 research has had far-reaching benefits

Donor stories

Donor support for COVID-19 research has had far-reaching benefits

“We did not have the time to write external grants and could not rely on traditional and slow funding vehicles. Instead we are supported by philanthropic funds that enable us to use necessary supercomputer resources, which would otherwise not be accessible.” notes Swanlund Professor of Physics Nigel Goldenfeld.

Read More Giving Stories

ENGINEERING VISIONARY SCHOLARSHIPS 

Give to the Engineering Visionary Scholarship.

EVS attracts the brightest students, ensures a diverse and talented class, and helps reduce student debt.

“The relief of financial burden this scholarship has lifted from my family’s shoulders is truly a priceless gift, and the generosity of donors that have made this possible inspires me to want to give others this same gift of relief, security, and most of all educational opportunity, as it has done for me.”

— Sara Shahid, Engineering Physics Class of '22, EVS Scholarship recipient

Learn More

Sara Shahid
Sara Shahid, Engineering Physics Class of '22

Watch Maggie and Fahad Mahmood's Material Girl parody video, Condensed Matter Girl, on Maggie's YouTube channel! Maggie is the Physics Education Secondary Education Partnership program coordinator at Illinois Physics, and Fahad is a professor in experimental condensed matter, whose group provided the creative spark for this project.

This original creation explores physics through the performing arts. It is one part of a larger scope of physics-and-the-arts collaborations initiated by Illinois Physics Professor Smitha Vishveshwara.

Ask
the
Van

 

 

I am working on my science fair project- I am freezing orange juice and soda to see which will freeze faster. My orange juice froze before the soda- is it because of the carbonate water in the soda or the sugar?

Molly (age 10)

Find Out Now

The Illinois Physics Van is a traveling science show for kids! Visit the Physics Van

Upcoming Events

March
20

Physics Colloquium: "Ultracold Bubbles in Space: Atomic Physics Aboard the International Space Station"

Nathan Lundblad (Bates College)

Loomis Lab 141 and via Zoom

4:00 PM

March
27

Physics Colloquium: Sergey Frolov (University of Pittsburgh), Title TBA

Sergey Frolov (University of Pittsburgh)

Loomis Lab 141 and via Zoom

4:00 PM

April
3

Physics Colloquium: Virginia Lorenz (UIUC), Title TBA

Virginia Lorenz (UIUC)

Loomis Lab 141 and via Zoom

4:00 PM

See more Colloquium events

April
4

Physics Careers Seminar

Dr. Nico Daiyega, Argonne National Laboratory

204 Loomis (Interaction Room)

12:00 PM

April
18

Physics Careers Seminar

Dr. Jeremy Grace, Principal Engineer, IDEX Health & Science

204 Loomis (Interaction Room)

11:00 AM

See more Careers Seminar events

March
23

Technology that Touches You Back!

Craig Shultz

1002 Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 306 North Wright Street, Urbana IL

10:00 AM

March
30

Instilling Common Sense into Robots

Saurabh Gupta

1002 Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 306 North Wright Street, Urbana IL

10:00 AM

April
6

From Nikola Tesla to TESLA: How the Electric Grid Became the Most Complex System Ever Engineered

Alejandro Dominguez-Garcia

1002 Electrical and Computer Engineering Building, 306 North Wright Street, Urbana IL

2:00 PM

See more research seminars