Department of Applied Physics

AP Faculty Search

The Department of Applied Physics has begun an open-rank faculty search focused on the Edward L. Ginzton Laboratory: details available at AcademicJobsOnline.

7th Annual Western Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics (report)

On January 13-15, approximately 160 undergraduate physics majors from 55 institutions in Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, plus a few others states converged onto the Stanford and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory campuses. What more, they were all female. This year, a record breaking number of students attended the 7th Annual Western Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, an event sponsored by the NSF, DOE, SLAC, Google, and numerous sources within Stanford University, including the Applied Physics department.

The primary goal for the conference was to encourage networking and the exchange of knowledge. Students from different universities interacted through a student poster session; tours of SLAC, Stanford, and the KIPAC Visualization Lab; and shared accommodations and meals. Students and professionals, both academic and industrial, interacted through talks, panels, workshops, and a joint career and graduate school fair. A variety of subfields within physics were emphasized with talks about health physics, the Higgs, nanostructures, and the formation of the universe. Speakers were encouraged to talk about their career paths and work-life balance behind the science to add an extra dimension relevant to students just starting out in their careers. A variety of trajectories after undergraduate life were also emphasized. Scientific talks were balanced by a panel on non-academic opportunities with a physics background; a workshop on graduate school was countered with a workshop on getting a jobs in industry.

Many graduate students in the Applied Physics department played an important role at the conference: helping at registration and socializing during the opening reception on the first day; representing the department at the graduate school fair (along with a research associate from Applied Physics); being involved in the two student-run workshops (“Communicating Undergraduate Research Through Conference Talks, Posters, and Publishing” and “Applying for Summer Research”). Also, Professor Kam Moler from the Applied Physics department was the first speaker of the conference with a engaging talk about “Quantum Mechanics of Nanostructures”.

Much thanks goes to all of the staff, speakers and volunteers who made the 7th Annual Western Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics possible. I for one had a wonderful time listening to the talks and socializing with the students. This conference definitely increased the awareness of opportunities and the tools needed for success as a physics undergraduate and beyond for many enthusiastic young women.

Helen Craig (Ph.D. Candidate, Applied Physics at Stanford)
Local Organizing Committee Member

APS Fellows: Block, Hwang and Suzuki

Please join us in congratulating Steven Block, Harold Hwang and Yuri Suzuki on being newly elected Fellows of the APS.

2012 Urbanek Postdoctoral Fellowship competition

The Department of Applied Physics invites applications for the 2012 Karel Urbanek Postdoctoral Fellowship. Applications and supporting credentials must be submitted through
https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/1265.

Humboldt Award: Aharon Kapitulnik

Please join us in congratulating Aharon Kapitulnik on his receipt of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. This award will enable Aharon to spend periods of collaborative research in Germany, where he plans to work on topics ranging from metal-insulator transitions to topological insulators.

PECASE Award: Benjamin Lev

Please join us in congratulating Benjamin Lev on his receipt of a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers!

New Faculty: Surya Ganguli

Surya Ganguli, who leverages a broad and deep background in theoretical methods from physics, statistics and engineering to develop new modeling and data analysis approaches in neuroscience, will join Stanford as Assistant Professor of Applied Physics (and, by courtesy, of Neurobiology and Electrical Engineering) in January 2012. Welcome on board!

New Faculty: Yuri Suzuki and Benjamin Lev

Yuri Suzuki, whose research deals broadly in the synthesis and characterization of complex oxide materials for device applications, will join Stanford as Professor of Applied Physics in January 2012. Benjamin Lev, whose research spans atomic physics, nanoscale magnetism and quantum many-body physics, will join Stanford as Assistant Professor of Applied Physics in September 2011. A heartfelt welcome to both!

ENERGY@STANFORD: a special course for incoming graduate students

ENERGY@STANFORD: Energy Research for the Twenty-First Century

The Precourt Institute for Energy, the Global Climate and Energy Project, the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Science, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will band together to offer a one-week course entitled “ENERGY@STANFORD: Energy Research for the Twenty-First Century” to incoming graduate students at Stanford next fall. The course will be held at Stanford during the week of September 12-16, 2011.

The objective of the course will be to provide a broad perspective on energy: present and future energy conversion and storage technologies, potential for improved energy efficiency, energy markets, and energy policy. It is intended for students who may engage deeply in a particular area in their future work but wish to have a broad overview and an introduction to groups doing energy research at Stanford. The course will also allow incoming students to meet others who have an interest in energy research, with the intent of building an interdisciplinary community across the campus.

Updates and further details will be posted at http://pie.stanford.edu/EnergyClassFall2011.html

AP launches new Department web site

Welcome to the new Department of Applied Physics web site! We hope that you will find it more inviting, informative, and interactive than the old one. The presentation has been reorganized around four AP-centric themes of current research on campus and at SLAC: Nanoscience and Quantum Engineering, Lasers and Accelerators, Condensed Matter Physics, and Experimental and Theoretical Biophysics. Each theme has its own landing page, on which you will find a listing of relevant courses, facilities, and faculty, from both within and outside the Applied Physics Department. Note that it is possible to filter the site content much more narrowly if you so desire—this can be done either using the search box located at the top of each page or via the “Browse all topic tags” interface. A more traditional listing of Department faculty, as well as admissions and academic program information can be accessed using the “Navigate” pop-up menu. Additional new features include the Alumni page and the Department blog (“Applied Physics Posts”); you can also now sign up for an email newsletter that will periodically be generated using new content added to the site.

Allen Distinguished Investigator: Mark Schnitzer

Please join us in congratulating Mark Schnitzer on being named one of seven Allen Distinguished Investigators. The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation has launched this program to advance important neuroscience and cellular engineering research.

APS 2011 Buckley Prize: Z.-X. Shen

We are pleased to share the news that Prof. Z.-X. Shen has been named a co-recipient of the Buckley Prize for 2011. He shares the Prize with Drs. Juan Carlos Campuzano, Argonne National Laboratory and Peter Johnson, Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The citation will read: “For innovations in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, which advanced the understanding of the cuprate superconductors, and transformed the study of strongly-correlated electronic systems.”

Please join us in congratulating Z.-X. on this prestigious and well deserved honor!

AAPT 2011 Richtmyer Award: Kam Moler

Please join us in congratulating Prof. Kam Moler on her recognition as the 2011 Recipient of the AAPT Richtmyer Award for Outstanding Leadership in Physics Education.

Applied Physics Department offices move to Nano

Claire, Paula, the Department Chair’s office and the new AP student lounge can now be found on the first floor of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering (from the main entrance, turn right).

Seminars in Condensed Matter Physics

The Departments of Physics and Applied Physics co-sponsor a series of seminars in Condensed Matter Physics, with talks in 115 McCullough on Thursdays at 3:15pm during academic term.

A listing of upcoming talks can be found here.

Applied Physics/Physics Colloquium

The Departments of Applied Physics and of Physics sponsor a joint colloquium series with talks held in Hewlett 201 on Tuesdays at 4:15pm during academic term.

A list of upcoming talks can be found here.

Optics and Electronics Seminar Series (AP483)

Optics and Electronics Seminars are held in 232 Nano at 4:15pm on Mondays during academic term.

A list of upcoming talks can be found here.

HEPL/KIPAC Experimental Seminars

A listing of upcoming talks can be found here.