News Archive - 2018

vector image of materials diagram
New study opens possibilities for smaller, more powerful light-control in quantum materials

The transfer of energy, as light or information, from one point to another is a big part of the science behind the phone in your hand and the images on your screen. Manipulating light wavelengths to transmit information represents the next frontier in optoelectronics, though many obstacles remain. Among the primary challenges in using light for information processing is the difficulty of squeezing light to very small space to fit in ever-…

rendering of a new building
New Interdisciplinary STEM building

With the infrastructure demands of science and technology research collaborations reaching higher levels each year, the university will break ground on the new Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Research Building at 2 p.m. on Nov. 27. The groundbreaking marks the beginning of the construction of the ISTEM Research Building, which will house engineering, chemistry and related disciplines to promote…

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UGA launches undergraduate degree in data science

It has been a very busy semester (so far), and we'll close out the news before Thanksgiving break with a new interdisciplinary degree program for undergraduates: A new degree program from the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences will train undergraduates at the interface of statistics and computer science to meet the rapidly growing demand for data scientists. Data science is a fast-growing area and the…

aerial photo of black smoke rising from the ocean water
Noted and Quoted, November 2018

Too much screen time, the Deepwater Horizon spill, and Thanksgiving were a few of the leading headlines over the last month that quoted and reported Franklin College faculty experts: The great family exodus – associate professor of history Stephen Mihm quoted in a news story on families fleeing the city at – Axios, and reported as‘Increasingly in big cities, youth isn’t being served’ in Crain’s Cleveland Business  …

group photo at PJ plaza
Kudos, November 2018

Major new initiatives on STEM education and research lead our kudos for the month of November: Funded by a $3 million National Science Foundation grant, more than 100 UGA faculty members in science, technology, engineering and math will collaborate on a comprehensive research project that seeks to transform STEM education on campus and at research universities nationwide   The University of Georgia launched a new degree…

photo of woman with cherry blossom and Lincoln memorial in background
Franklin College faculty members elected to AAAS

Six UGA faculty members, including three from the Franklin College, have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), an honor bestowed by their peers for “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.” These six faculty members are among 416 new AAAS Fellows who will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue—representing science and…

photo of a storm on the Skidaway intercoastal
$10M weather and climate project will refine models, forecasting

UGA geography faculty member Gabriel Kooperman will lead one of 13 new DOE projects to enhance and refine computer models that help scientists understand weather patterns: This past July, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $10 million in funding for 13 projects aimed at further enhancing one of the world’s most sophisticated computer models for understanding weather and climate patterns. The projects will support…

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Amazing student: Anita Qualls

Amazing biology student and Regenerative Bioscience Fellow Anita Qualls works hard in the lab in preparation for a career in academic medicine: After sophomore year, I spent eight weeks at Harvard Medical School as a research intern for Dr. Pankaj Agrawal at Boston Children’s Hospital. I collaborated with Harvard physicians at the Manton Center for Rare and Orphan Disease to write three pediatric clinical case papers on rare genetic disease…

Outdoor photo of seven people on steps of a building
Anderson Foundation support for statewide climate project

Important news for The Georgia Climate Project, a statewide consortium of university researchers focused on helping Georgia localities facing the challenges of a changing climate: The Ray C. Anderson Foundation has awarded a $650,000 grant to Emory University to advance the Georgia Climate Project, a state-wide consortium co-founded by Emory, the University of Georgia, and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and joined by Agnes Scott…

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Sustainable UGA Fall 2018 Semester in Review

Franklin College students will be among those presenting today at the Fall 2018 Sustainable UGA Semester in Review, which celebrates people, programs, activities and academic courses that are creating a culture of sustainability at UGA: The program includes brief presentations from the Office of Sustainability interns, posters and table displays from UGA classes, the announcement of 2018 Campus Sustainability Grant winners, light lunch fare and…