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Physics & Astronomy

One of the most-anticipated international collaborations in particle physics is the Belle II experiment, which started taking data last year at the KEK national accelerator facility in Tsukuba, Japan.

Search for New Particles Topic for Fall’s First Science Cafe

UM professor Jake Bennett to explore subatomic world Sept. 17 September 12, 2019 by Edwin B. Smith The international search for the fundamental building blocks of all matter is the topic for an upcoming public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy. The fall semester’s first meeting of the […]


Educational programming has been an important part of the mission of the University of Mississippi Museum since its opening in August 1939. The museum is celebrating its 80th anniversary this month. Photo by Robert Jordan

University Museum Turns 80

From Vonnegut and O’Keefe to art lessons and lectures, landmark offers something for everyone AUGUST 26, 2019 BY MICHAEL NEWSOM As a child in the 1940s, Kaye Bryant used to wander around what is now the University of Mississippi Museum. There, her imagination was captured by fleas, but these were not just any ordinary bugs – […]


UM physics alumnus Hector da Silva presents a lecture on neutron stars for undergraduate students at the Universidade Federal do Pará in Salinopolis, Brazil. He has been awarded the GWIC-Braccini Thesis Prize for his 2017 doctoral dissertation. Submitted photo

Physics Alumnus Wins International Award for Gravitational Wave Thesis

Hector Okada da Silva will receive the GWIC-Braccini Thesis Prize in Italy JUNE 25, 2019 BY EDWIN SMITH A University of Mississippi physics alumnus has been selected to receive an international honor for his doctoral dissertation on gravitational wave research. Hector Okada da Silva, of Belém, Brazil, will be presented the 2017 Gravitational Wave International […]


Supporting STEM

Estate Gift to Support Active Learning Facility JUNE 4, 2019 BY BILL DABNEY A recent unrestricted gift to the University of Mississippi from the estate of Maurice Lucas Kellum of Tupelo, Mississippi, is being directed to support construction of a leading student-centered science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) building on the Oxford campus. University leaders […]


The UM Graduate Student Council Research Fund has awarded $1,000 grants to 21 students to support their research and creative projects over the coming year. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss

Graduate Students Receive Grants for Research Efforts

Competitive awards help burgeoning researchers learn critical skills, develop projects MAY 20, 2019 BY SHEA STEWART Twenty-one University of Mississippi graduate students have been awarded Graduate Student Council Research Fund grants to support their research, study and creative scholarship. The $1,000 competitive research grants, funded by the UM Graduate School and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, are […]


James, Dottie and Bonnie Reid.

For Some in Regalia, This Isn’t Just Another Commencement

Several administrators and professors have children graduating from UM this year MAY 11, 2019  BY MICHAEL NEWSOM The Rocks David Rock, dean of the School of Education, will hand his daughter, Carly Rock, a bachelor’s degree in secondary chemistry education at graduation, and she’ll get another one in chemistry. A few days ahead of the event, he […]


Faculty, Students Contribute to Groundbreaking Physics Research

Eight university team members among 500 scientists in 23 countries involved in global project MAY 1, 2019 BY EDWIN B. SMITH A team of University of Mississippi scientists are part of a global network of researchers making significant contributions to a groundbreaking particle physics project that promises to improve our understanding of the nature of […]


Leo C. Stein

Truth of Black Holes Topic of April Science Cafe

UM physicist Leo Stein to discuss deep-space phenomena APRIL 5, 2019 BY EDWIN B. SMITH The latest observations about the deep-space phenomena of black holes is the topic for a monthly public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy. The spring semester’s final meeting of the Oxford Science Cafe […]


Aliens are Coming to March Edition of Science Cafe

UM chemistry professor Ryan Fortenberry to discuss molecules from deep space MARCH 11, 2019 BY EDWIN B. SMITH The detection and possible impact of alien molecules from deep space are the topic for a monthly public science forum organized by the University of Mississippi Department of Physics and Astronomy. The spring semester’s third meeting of […]


Leo C. Stein

Q&A with Leo Stein, Black Hole Researcher

Leo C. Stein, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronom