University of Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy

Home
United States
Notre Dame, IN
University of Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy

Call Directions Website Contact the university

For students, faculty and friends of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame

10/22/2026

Take a look at equipment used by Badih Assaf, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy!

10/13/2026

Congratulations to Kevin Lannon, Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, on his selection to the University of Notre Dame All-Faculty Team!

Lannon studies the fundamental building blocks of the universe through the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. Working with an international collaboration of scientists, Lannon searches for undiscovered particles and forces that shape the cosmos, including dark matter and dark energy.

Learn more about Lannon's research and the other members of the 2026 Notre Dame All-Faculty Team here: https://bit.ly/3VxktBU

Please join us in congratulating Professor Lannon!

10/06/2026

In memoriam: Jacek K. Furdyna, Aurora and Thomas Marquez Professor Emeritus in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, died Sept. 28, 2026. He was 93.

Furdyna’s research became the foundation of modern spintronics, a technology that uses an electron’s magnetic spin rather than its physical movement to carry data. This allows computers to store memory, as well as run faster and cooler. Working with many international collaborators over a career spanning six decades, he created the field of dilute magnetic semiconductors, using molecular beam epitaxy to create magnetic-semiconductor heterostructures and nanostructures.

Furdyna authored or co-authored more than 970 publications, and his work has been cited nearly 26,000 times in Web of Science. His most influential paper, the 1988 Journal of Applied Physics review “Diluted Magnetic Semiconductors,” has been cited more than 4,500 times and remains the entry point for students in the field.

He was a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Institute of Physics (United Kingdom). He received honorary doctorates from the University of Warsaw and Purdue University. In 2009 he was awarded the Nicolaus Copernicus Medal, the highest honor of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

More: https://bit.ly/4z9w6NC

10/05/2026

Dafei Jin, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is one of 21 researchers who received grants from the 2026 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative.

Jin, who is affiliated with the Stavropoulos Center for Complex Quantum Matter and has led pioneering research on quantum bits (qubits), aims to develop a new platform for long-distance quantum information exchange.

His team plans to trap single barium ions atop atomically thin solid helium, adhered to the surface of a nanofabricated device. Jin will manipulate their optical transitions as the environment shifts from vacuum to superfluid helium, then to solid helium. He will also investigate microwave control and optical readout of ions’ internal states, as well as their coupling to superconducting circuits.

The Moore Foundation’s initiative provides each of this year’s 21 scientists with $1.35 million over five years, providing flexibility to accelerate physics research.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/4hlAIKK

09/24/2026

Lauren Henderson, a fifth-year doctoral student (University of Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy), has been awarded the prestigious Amelia Earhart Fellowship, presented by Zonta International.

As a researcher of galactic archeology, Henderson has used the fellowship to support her work with ancient stars.

Henderson works in the lab of Evan Kirby, associate professor of physics and astronomy, and they study stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies around the Milky Way.

https://bit.ly/4AxtURy

09/22/2026

08/07/2026

Congratulations, Dr. Alex Thomas!

07/02/2026

Congratulations, Dr. Shane Moylan!

Address

Nieuwland Science Hall
Notre Dame, IN
46556

Telephone

+15746316386

Website

http://physics.nd.edu/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when University of Notre Dame Physics and Astronomy posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.