Author: emoryphysics

Battering the roadblocks of RNA transcription

April 15, 2024

RNA polymerases must transit through protein roadblocks to produce full-length transcripts. Building on preliminary work by Finzi lab alumni Yan Yan and Wenxuan Xu, graduate student Jin Qian recently used magnetic tweezers to discover that RNA polymerases can backtrack and ram into longer lived protein roadblocks to transit through them during transcription. He was helped in … More Battering the roadblocks of RNA transcription

Prof. Jennifer Rieser receives NSF CAREER Award

March 30, 2024

The NSF has awarded a CAREER grant to Prof. Rieser to use experimental and computational techniques to establish links between architecture and functionality of the complex nest structures created by red imported fire ant colonies. Specifically, this research seeks to understand how above- and below-ground nests are organized to achieve mechanical robustness and to facilitate … More Prof. Jennifer Rieser receives NSF CAREER Award

Emory SPS jams at the Atlanta Science Festival

March 25, 2024

Emory’s Society of Physics students showed up en masse to engage both children and adults at the Atlanta Science Festival Expo. The Expo is the finale of the Festival, and fills most of Piedmont Park with 20,000 people. This year, Emory Physics focused on “how physics touches your life,” and featured dancing oobleck, spinning motors, … More Emory SPS jams at the Atlanta Science Festival

The acoustic dance of polymers near an interface

January 11, 2024

Interfaces impact the properties of glasses over surprisingly large length scales, which has important implications for developing nanoscale devices involving polymers. Emory graduate student Yannic Gagnon, together with his PhD advisor Prof. Connie Roth and Prof. Justin C. Burton, recently discovered a new mechanism for how local dynamics in glasses may be coupled over long … More The acoustic dance of polymers near an interface

Professor Laura Finzi named American Physical Society Fellow

October 21, 2023

The American Physical Society has named Emory biophysicist Laura Finzi as one of its 2023 Fellows, a distinction given to researchers who have made significant contributions to the application of physics to science and technology and advanced physics through original research. The APS honors only about half of a percent of its members with the Fellows distinction. … More Professor Laura Finzi named American Physical Society Fellow

Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in Experimental Condensed Matter or Optics

September 29, 2023

The Department of Physics at Emory University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in experimental condensed matter physics or optics, broadly defined, to begin in fall 2024. We are particularly interested in candidates who demonstrate creativity in their research field and would benefit from and complement the existing strengths of the Department and … More Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in Experimental Condensed Matter or Optics

Prof. Justin C. Burton receives $1.25 million Moore Foundation Award

September 11, 2023

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded a $1.25 million Physics Investigators Initiative grant to Justin C. Burton, an associate professor of physics at Emory University. The grant will cover the next five years of Burton’s investigation in advancing the scientific frontier in experimental physics.  Burton’s investigative research works to bridge the communication gap between geoscientists and … More Prof. Justin C. Burton receives $1.25 million Moore Foundation Award

Sergei Urazhdin receives SEED award as a Cottrell Scholar

August 24, 2023

Professor Sergei Urazhdin, a former Cottrell Scholar, has received a new SEED award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement: https://rescorp.org/cottrell-scholars/cottrell-plus/seed-awards. The competitive SEED award is given to Cottrell Scholars as they launch exceptionally creative, new research or educational activities with the potential for high impact. Prof. Urazhdin’s lab investigates new physical phenomena that emerge … More Sergei Urazhdin receives SEED award as a Cottrell Scholar

Physicists open new path to an exotic form of superconductivity

August 12, 2023

Emory Physicists have identified a mechanism for the formation of oscillating superconductivity known as pair-density waves. Physical Review Letters published the discovery, which provides new insight into an unconventional, superconductive state seen in certain materials, including high-temperature superconductors. “We discovered that structures known as Van Hove singularities can produce modulating, oscillating states of superconductivity,” says … More Physicists open new path to an exotic form of superconductivity