Dear Physics Communiy,

This is the last message of 2020.  The first was March 13 and there have been 108 since then.  Seems like forever. We have some time now without the frantic pace of the term.

Speaking of forever, Tavneet and I handed in our reports — Tavneet’s to the Chair of the Faculty and mine to the Provost.  We started Oct. 15, 2019 and worked through the pandemic because we thought it was important.  We still do and I believe the Administration will act on our recommendations in January.

I’ve been watching the COVID-19 measurements in the waste water at Deer Island — went up, was going down until Thanksgiving, then up, now going down again.  Maybe it stick this time.

Many will celebrate the end of 2020 by burning their calendars or with dumpster fires of 2020 memorabilia.  I saw a lot of good in 2020 — our students that worked as mentors and tutors, staff that, after taking care of their normal work plus the extra COVID-19 work, to the faculty that held courses, research groups, and advisees together.  All of us had families and friends remotes from us that we had to find new ways to care for and love.  And we all had to take care of ourselves.  This is what I hope I remember.

Peter

Above the Fold

• Slides on COVID-19 vaccine rollout at MIT
• FAQ, etc. for international students from Ian Waitz

Announcements

• Announcement of DOE Diversity Program here
• Announcement of DOE Quantum Information Science  funds here
• Jack Steinberger, physicist and alum, dies at 99.  His daughter, Julia, is also a physics alum
• JWEL grants call for proposals here

Physics

• New quantum thermo-electric cooler from Liang
• LIDAR on a chip, started in Marin’s group
• New history of the Milky Way from Quanta
• AMO results: quantum magnetic behavior from Wolfgang  and a new atomic clock from Vladan

Message here

Dear Physics Community,

You may have heard that the Office of the Vice-Chancellor has sent a letter to require all graduate students outside the US to return to the US or risk losing their support from MIT.  A similar directive was issued in the Fall.  As in the Fall, the Department will work with all such affected students to arrange that they can remain where they are and continue to receive support from our Department.  In some cases, this will mean changing how they are supported, and in others, it will mean us helping them through an exception process.

Our Academic Programs Administrator Cathy Modica will lead this effort, and we expect, as was the case in Fall, that we will be able to find solutions for all our impacted students.  The downside to this is that it will consume staff time and discretionary funds, but supporting our graduate students is our top priority, and we will have to live with the consequences.  We are a strong Department, and we will manage, though I do not know how at this moment.

Thank you to everyone on the Physics staff for their work on this.  They have been ahead of the curve since Monday.

Peter

Above the Fold

• News story, “Pompeo Shames MIT…”
• Cambridge Good Riddance to 2020 this weekend here

Announcements

• Five reasons to be an AFRL Scholar here
• Spring Canvas info from Krishna and Sheryl

Physics

• DOE Office of Science funding for Advanced Computation
• People like Will and Phiala try to make computers go fast, but some work at making them go slow.

Dear Physics Community,

Yesterday, Dec. 8,  was “Safe Harbor Day”, the day by which states are supposed to have certified their elections and accredited their Electoral College delegates.  I believe all the states except Wisconsin did.  Yesterday was the day the first COVID-19 vaccine injections were given in Britain.  Some progress.

Some sad news  – I’m writing to share the disappointing news that Ibrahim Cissé will be leaving our department and MIT.  Ibrahim has accepted a position at CalTech. Nergis and I worked hard to keep him at MIT.

Ibrahim Cisse earned tenure earlier this year and formally became a joint faculty member in Biology.  In his 6 short years at MIT, he has made significant contributions to understanding gene expression in living cells, using and developing techniques of super-resolution microscopy in live cells. He has been awarded numerous grants and awards, including the NIH New Innovator Award and the Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science. He has been a positive force in the department in all ways: his science, as an instructor (especially in our first-year subjects), his service (especially as Colloquium Committee Chair), and his powerful voice in DEI issues. 

Please join me in wishing Ibrahim well as he begins the transition to CalTech and Los Angeles.

Peter

Above the Fold

• Listening to the gravitational wave hum of the universe, Sylvia Biscoveanu, here

Announcements

• NRT announcement for seniors here
• University of Chicago Grainger Postdoctoral Fellowship in Experimental Physics, deadline Dec. 15, here

Physics

• EPR redux – Quanta article on new Bell-like theorem
• Martin makes a perfect fluid
• Ray’s cool teaching video here