University of Michigan Physics Department

06/01/2026

Congrats to alumnus & Professor Stephen Forrest on his election to the Royal Society!
His work bridges physics, engineering & tech, underpinning the fiber optics, OLED displays, and next-gen photovoltaics we use today and tomorrow. Link to Michigan Engineering story: myumi.ch/DWG11 University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Forrest's work underpins commercial fiber-optic communications and OLED displays, with an eye to future generations of photovoltaics.

05/27/2026

Prof. Dragan Huterer received the Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award from the U-M Rackham Graduate School! He credits his students: “Working with them has been the most rewarding part of being a professor.” (Shown: Prof. Huterer w/ Dean Mike Solomon) University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

05/18/2026

We are thrilled to announce that University of Michigan physics professor Lu Li has been named to the elite 2026 class of Brown Investigators!
Announced by the Brown Institute for Basic Sciences at Caltech, this prestigious award provides up to $2 million over five years. Professor Li will utilize this support to develop pioneering methods probing the electronic states of insulators—potentially opening an entirely new field in solid-state physics.
Join us in celebrating this outstanding milestone for LSA and the university's scientific community! 💙💛
🔗 Read more at this link: https://myumi.ch/kV365 University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Each investigator, recognized for curiosity-driven research in chemistry or physics, will receive up to $2 million over five years.

05/15/2026

Several University of Michigan Physics Department physicists will share the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics: https://myumi.ch/NX1XP via MLive.com

The 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics recognizes members of the Muon g-2 Collaboration, a team of more than 200 scientists working across three laboratories over five decades.

05/11/2026

Using extremely large photonic crystals, physicists directly observed and quantified higher-order scattering from stealthy-hyperuniformity. In the stealthy regime, multiple scattering diminishes the material’s transparency.

The study was conducted by Weizhe Zhang, Youngjun Ahn, Liuyan Zhao, and colleagues in the University of Michigan Physics Department and of and collaborators at and Rutgers University.

University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

🔗 https://go.aps.org/4nhNGug

05/04/2026

The Department of Physics is proud to celebrate Maximilian Jerdee (Ph.D. ’25) for receiving the 2025 ProQuest Distinguished Dissertation Award! 🎓

Max’s award-winning dissertation, "Inference and Information in Network Structure," bridges complex mathematical and physical frameworks, revolutionizing our understanding of social hierarchies and human interactions. His work provides a new, systematic way to compare networks across different societies.

Peers and faculty alike praise Max for his scientific brilliance and clear, thoughtful communication. Join us in congratulating Max on this incredible achievement and his bright future ahead! 〽️

04/24/2026

Join us in celebrating the two research teams led by Professors Camille Avestruz and Christian Herwig, who were recently honored with the "Empowering Research with AI" award by the AI Institutes at Michigan (AIIM). These awards recognize innovative projects that integrate artificial intelligence to advance scientific discovery.
We are proud to see our LSA researchers at the forefront of this evolving field!
Read more about their winning projects and the AIIM awards here: https://myumi.ch/W6Vzb
University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

04/21/2026

Huge news in physics! The Muon g-2 experimenters are the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics awardees!

For 15 years, Professor Tim Chupp has led the U-M team's contributions to this groundbreaking research. This achievement is a testament to the dedication of faculty and students, including postdoc Joe Grange and Ph.D. candidates David Aguillard and Eva Krageloh, as well as Alexander Tewsley-Booth, Ph.D., and Midhat Farooq, Ph.D. Read more about this monumental win https://breakthroughprize.org/News/98 University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Gene Therapies for Inherited Blindness, Sickle Cell Disease and Beta-Thalassemia Discovery of Key Genetic Cause of ALS and Frontotemporal Dementia

04/14/2026

The discovery of gravitational waves opened a new window into our universe. What’s next?

Join the Leinweber Institute for Theoretical Physics for a special public lecture: "What quantum physics teaches us about gravitational waves."

We are excited to welcome Professor Zvi Bern from UCLA. Professor Bern will explore how methods used to study particle collisions are now providing state-of-the-art predictions for gravitational-wave emission—revealing an unexpected unity between gravity and other known forces.

This event is free and open to the public. We hope to see our students, faculty, and alums there!

🗓️ Date: Thursday, April 16
🕓 Time: 4:30–5:30 PM
📍 Location: 4th Floor Amphitheatre, Rackham Graduate

University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts University of Michigan News University of Michigan

03/19/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who supported U-M Physics this ! Your contributions help our students and faculty push the boundaries of what we know about the universe. From lab research to community outreach, your generosity ensures the next generation of Wolverines can pursue what they love. 〽️🚀