The award is presented annually. Professor Brady was chosen, “[f]or trailblazing work in gravitational wave data analysis techniques, computing, and cyberinfrastructure, and for leadership in gravitational wave science that enables multi-messenger astronomy with gravitational wave observations.”

The full details of the award can be found on the .

Congratulations, Patrick!

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By Laura Otto, Marketing and Communication

Citizen scientists have provided important help to astronomers exploring the heavens, and now they are invited to take a more hands-on role.

In their efforts to scour the universe for evidence of gravitational waves, scientists have enlisted the help of 15,000 volunteers who donated their private computers’ downtime in a citizen-science project called <a href="https://einsteinathome.org/"Einstein @ Home.

Begun by the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics (Albert Einstein Institute) in Hannover, Germany, and at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Einstein@ Home offers the collective computing power needed for the enormous and data-intensive task of searching for neutron stars and pulsars, which create gravitational waves.

Neutron stars are compact remnants of exploded massive stars. Pulsars are a special kind of rotating neutron star that emits beacons of radiation at regular intervals.

Donated computer time from Einstein@Home participants also is helping analyze observations from some of the largest radio telescopes on Earth, including the now-decommissioned Arecibo Radio Telescope, to identify pulsars. Most pulsars are detected by the radio waves they emit, but they are difficult to extract from the telescope data.

Now, Einstein@Home volunteers can take a more active role by classifying pulsar candidates from radio telescope data using graphical representations and other characteristics of the data. Volunteers can sign up to join “,” on the citizen science platform .

Pulsars are excellent astrophysical tools that enable research in several areas of astronomy, such as testing Einstein’s theory of general relativity, understanding the behavior of extremely dense matter, and searching for low-frequency gravitational waves – the kind that are beyond the frequency range of Earth-based detectors like .

The project’s science team has taken the first step to narrow the huge field of potential pulsar candidates using sophisticated algorithms, said Rahul Sengar, a 51���� postdoctoral researcher who is leading Pulsar Seekers.

But the remaining number is formidable, Sengar said. “The number of candidates is so large that it is impractical for one person to do the job. This makes the collective human effort of Zooniverse participants invaluable in identifying true pulsar candidates,” he said.

With the help of Pulsar Seekers, scientists hope to have the manpower to find pulsars in very tight orbits with one another.

This kind of pulsar is more difficult to identify but are important because they could contain information on questions such as the origin of heavy elements in the universe, said David Kaplan, 51���� professor of physics.

“The first evidence for gravitational waves came from two neutron stars orbiting around each other every eight hours, with the orbit gradually shrinking,” Kaplan said. “We now know of about 15 such systems in the Milky Way galaxy.”

Scientists want to be able to compare binary neutrons in our galaxy with those that can be detected in distant galaxies with the LIGO and Virgo observatories, he said.

The pulsar census work is already underway, Sengar said. To date, Einstein@Home has discovered 31 radio pulsars in data from the Arecibo telescope, 24 radio pulsars in data from Parkes Observatory in Australia, and 39 gamma-ray emitting pulsars in data from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Observatory.

“We can’t wait to see what Zooniverse citizen scientists discover in our data,” Sengar said.

Anyone interested in participating can get more information and sign up on the .

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Associate Professor Ionel Popa is among several recipients of a 51���� Research Foundation Catalyst Grant.

The program, supported by the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and Clarios, has awarded a total of $180,000 to promising research and development in areas where 51���� has the greatest potential to impact the regional economy through commercialization activities.

Now in its 16th year, the Catalyst Grant program has awarded over $5.76 million in seed funding for 109 projects. These projects have led to 62 issued patents, 30 license/option agreements and more than $36.5 million in follow-on investments in 51���� technologies.

Prof. Popa has developed technology for more efficiently capturing and concentrating antibodies that are useful in a wide range of research and therapeutic applications. This patent-pending material consists of protein-based hydrogels that offer a high density of antibody binding sites and increased yield over current purification methods.

The full article may be read on the 51���� Report website

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It was a celebration more than 15 years in the making – and the second time 51���� has had a role in the breakthrough science of gravitational waves. 51���� physics students and faculty gathered to watch a livestream on June 29 announcing the discovery that could tell us more than ever before about how the very early universe formed.

A collaboration of scientists in the U.S. and Canada, called the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, or NANOGrav, has compiled compelling evidence that a signal has been found for low-frequency gravitational waves that collectively generate a “background hum” across the universe. 51���� has been a member of since its inception in 2007.

More than 190 scientists comprise NANOGrav, a Physics Frontiers Center funded by the National Science Foundation. Vigeland and David Kaplan, 51���� professor of physics, lead the current 51���� group: postdoctoral researchers Joe Swiggum, Abhimanyu Susobhanan and Megan Jones; doctoral students Alex McEwen, Gabriel Freedman, Shashwat Sardesai and Gabriella Agazie; and Administrative Specialist Tonia Klein.

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Since 2009, XFELs have enabled scientists to examine how molecules in the human body and in a variety of materials change over split-second intervals, important knowledge to help understand human health and medicine. The technology will also help advance renewable energy research, quantum technologies, and semiconductor manufacturing.

But, because of the current kilometer-long XFEL’s with billion-dollar construction costs, the technology is available at only five facilities worldwide. The goal of this NSF grant is to build a compact XFEL, or CXFEL, that can accomplish the same tasks but in the space of a single room. The funding was awarded to Arizona State University and 11 collaborating institutions, including 51����.

The 51���� team, led by Distinguished Professor of Physics Abbas Ourmazd and including Professor Peter Schwander, Senior Scientist Russell Fung, and Assistant Professor Ahmad Hosseinizadeh, has received nearly 3 million in funding to develop machine-learning algorithms to analyze data collected by this cutting-edge instrument.

This post is a slightly condensed version of an article in the 51���� Report, written by Laura Otto. The original posting may be found here.

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The application period is open through March 13th, 2023. This opportunity is open to undergraduate students, and students from underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. Research topics range from solar atmosphere to local interstellar medium, and include theory, modeling, simulations, data analysis, and instrument design/testing.

More information, including posters and research from previous interns, can be found at . There is also a brochure available for download here.

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Our newest faculty member, Assistant Professor Ahmad Hosseinizadeh, originally joined the 51���� Physics Department in 2011, starting as a postdoctoral research associate and continuing on as a scientist prior to joining the faculty. He received his doctoral degree in physics from Laval University in Canada in 2010 and earned his M.Sc. and BSc. degrees in physics respectively from the Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences and Bahonar University both in Iran. He is an active member of BioXFEL, which is a science and technology center supported by NSF and pursues the creation of integrated research and education to study biological molecules using X-ray Free Electron Lasers.

Our newest member of the academic staff, Jeff Polak, received his undergraduate degree from UW-Whitewater, followed by a Master’s degree from North Carolina State University where he worked with the Physics Education Research and Development group. For the past ten years, he worked as a Physics Instructor at the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN. Jeff, who was born in Greenfield, WI, is excited to move back home after about fifteen years out of state. Jeff will be playing a major part in our undergraduate courses and lab offerings.

We look forward to working with both of them!

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You can read the full story in , along with other news from Letters and Science.

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