News

JILA's Postdoc Group, an internal organization supporting postdoctoral researchers within JILA, held a career panel titled: "Insights for Applying for Faculty Positions as a Postdoctoral Researcher." The panel featured three JILA Fellows: Margaret Murnane, Shuo Sun, and Graeme Smith, and J. Curtis Beimborn II, the Director of the W.M. Keck Laboratory at JILA, who recently accepted a faculty position on the East Coast. 

Former JILA postdoctoral researcher William “Bill” Peters recently passed away on May 29th after experiencing sudden cardiac arrest while playing soccer with his daughter. Peters was part of JILA Fellows Henry Kapteyn’s and Margaret Murnane’s research group within JILA. Before this position, Peters completed his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2013. After completing his postdoc at JILA in 2021, Peters became an optical engineer at Lockheed Martin, working on cutting-edge technological systems. 

His family is holding services this week in Colorado Springs and asks anyone interested in attending to contact Bill’s sister Rebecca Peters, for more information. 
 

Some of the most important research and discoveries in science have been made by women. To celebrate these inspiring individuals and to support the next generation of female scientists, the United Nations dedicated February 11 as "International Women and Girls in Science" day. To honor this tradition, JILA hosted a panel discussion/open-forum with both JILA Fellows and JILA staff as speakers.

Surrounded by some of the world’s most advanced lasers, computers, and microscopes sits Brendan McBennett, a graduate student at JILA. McBennett has been working in the laboratories of JILA Fellows Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, as part of the KM group since 2019, excited to see his research advance significantly over that time. “We use ultraviolet and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lasers to study heat flow in nanostructured materials,” McBennett states. “EUV photons have a higher photon energy that makes them insensitive to electron dynamics in most materials, combined with nanometer wavelengths. This allows them to very precisely probe surface deformations induced by heat - or thermal phonons – to capture new materials behaviors.” In simple terms, McBennett is looking at heat dissipation in nanoelectronics. “Our experiments are providing a better understanding of phonon thermal transport in nanomaterials to inform the development of new predictive theories,” he says. “The field of phonon transport is still in its infancy, compared to our understanding of electrons and spins. There is a lot of technological potential, for energy efficiency, smarter design of nanoelectronics and quantum devices, and phonon-photon and phonon-electron analogs like phononic crystals and thermal diodes.” McBennett’s previous work at NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) studied the power grid under varying renewable energy and energy efficiency scenarios, and his current research zooms in on this previous focus. 

JILA graduate student Brendan McBennett has been announced as the 2023 recipient of the $10,000 Nick Cobb Memorial Scholarship by SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, and Siemens EDA. McBennett was cited for this award "for his potential contributions to the field related to advanced lithography." At JILA, McBennett works under the supervision of JILA Fellows and University of Colorado Boulder professors Dr. Margaret Murnane and Dr. Henry Kapteyn.

JILA scientist Dr. Chen-Ting Liao has been awarded a grant as part of the 2023 Young Investigator Research Program, or YIP. YIP was launched by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, or AFOSR, the basic research arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory. The AFOSR's mission is to support Air Force goals of control and maximum utilization of air, space, and cyberspace. To do this, AFSOR is awarding $25 million in grants to 58 scientists and engineers from 44 research institutions and businesses in 22 states in 2023. Two grants will be awarded to the quantum information sciences research portfolio for quantum computing funded by the National Security Agency. The remaining awards will be funded by AFOSR YIP and/or core research portfolio funds. YIP recipients receive three-year grants of up to $450,000. 

JILA Fellow Margaret Murnane has been selected as a recipient of the 2022 Institute of Physics Isaac Newton Medal and Prize. This prestigious award honors the legacy of the famous physicist Sir Isaac Newton, by commending those who have made world-leading contributions in the field of physics. Murnane received the award for pioneering and sustained contributions to the development of ultrafast lasers and coherent X-ray sources and the use of such sources to understand the quantum nature of materials.

Congratulations to Bin Wang for receiving the 2022 SPIE BACUS Scholarship!  The SPIE BACUS Scholarship was set up in 1998 to reward the most qualified students who wish to work in the fields of photomask and microlithography manufacturing for the semiconductor industry.  This award will partially assist with pursuing Bin's career goals in the fields of microlithography, photomask technology and/or optical/EUV photolithography technologies.  

The BACUS Steering Committee, in concert with the SPIE Scholarship Committee, will work with institutions of higher learning to identify candidates and award scholarships to help prepare them to make significant contributions to industry.

This year, JILA celebrates its 60th anniversary. Officially established on April 13, 1962, as a joint institution between the University of Colorado Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), JILA has become a world leader in physics research. Its rich history includes three Nobel laureates, groundbreaking work in laser development, atomic clocks, underlying dedication to precision measurement, and even competitive sports leagues. The process of creating this science goliath was not always straightforward and took the dedication and hard work of many individuals.

The European Commission will support a total of 1156 experienced post-doctoral researchers with €242 million to work at top universities, research centres, private organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe and the rest of the world. The European Research Executive Agency (REA) received 8356 applications for this call. The Commission will award €206 million to 1025 researchers through European Postdoctoral Fellowships, allowing them to carry out their projects in the EU or countries associated to Horizon Europe. The action provides support to excellent individual researchers to implement an original and personalized research project, while developing their skills through advanced training, international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.

Q-FARM (Quantum Fundamentals, ARchitectures and Machines) is Stanford's initiative in quantum science and engineering.  The QFARM student fellowships are awarded to advanced graduate students working in quantum science and engineering.  Fellowship criteria are excellence in their research, and demonstrated potential for building new links within the Stanford quantum community.  Each awardee receives two years of funding.

Congratulations to Brendan McBennett for winning a Best Student Presentation Award for Symposium EN03: Thermal Materials, Modeling and Technoeconomic Impacts for Thermal Management and Energy Application at the 2021 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, Nov 29-Dec 2, 2021, for the presentation "New Transport Behavior in Nanostructured Silicon—Increased In-Plane Phonon Scattering Drives Enhanced Thermal Conduction"

Congratulations to Giulia Mancini for receiving the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics! In 2005 the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) created the Young Scientist Prizes for its commissions. The international Commission of Optics (ICO), as an Affiliated Commission of IUPAP, decided in 2008 to adopt the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics. The IUPAP prize in optics will be awarded annually through ICO to a scientist who has made noteworthy contributions to applied optics and photonics during a maximum of 8 years of research experience after having earned a PhD degree. Career interruptions will not be counted as time of research experience.

Congratulations Sinéad for receiving a best ORAL award at the 2021 A-round-the-Clock Around-the-World Magnetics conference!

The National Science Foundation has renewed for five years and more than $22 million the cutting-edge Science and Technology Center on Real-Time Functional Imaging (STROBE). STROBE is developing the Microscopes of Tomorrow, and is a partnership between six institutions –– University of Colorado Boulder, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Florida International University, Fort Lewis College, and UC Irvine.

The NIST NRC Postdoctoral Program supports a nationwide competitive postdoctoral program administered in cooperation with the National Academies/National Research Council (NRC). The postdoctoral program brings research scientists and engineers of unusual promise and ability to perform advanced research related to the NIST mission, introduces the latest university research results and techniques to NIST scientific programs, strengthens mutual communication with university researchers, shares NIST unique research facilities with the U.S. scientific and engineering communities, and provides a valuable mechanism for the transfer of research results from NIST to the scientific and engineering communities.

Kevin Dorney, a former STROBE graduate student at CU Boulder in the Kapteyn and Murnane research group, has been awarded the Madame Curie Scholarship, which finances a two-year Postdoc Program at the IMEC AttoLab starting in May 2021.

The NSF GRFP recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions. The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

In the first episode of the brand new podcast, Buff Innovator Insights, JILA Fellow Margaret Murnane speaks on her background, her research, and her goal to produce the microscopes of the future. 

JILA Fellow Margaret Murnane has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Limerick this year - her 6th Honorary Doctorate.