It’s June 14.

America’s birthday is 20 days away.

And this is what’s In Focus.

Spotlight: CAREER awards

Google “prestigious awards for junior faculty.” The top result should be telling you about the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award given by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The CAREER award provides recipients with five years of funding toward future research. Award recipients are chosen for their “potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”
The School of Arts and Sciences is home to three of the five University of Rochester faculty members who earned this award.

Dan Bergstralh, assistant professor of biology

• Focus: How epithelia—the most common tissue-type in our bodies—are built during development and are maintained through an organism’s lifespan
• Award supports: Research on the molecular mechanisms that determine how cells “decide” the direction of division

Kathryn Knowles, assistant professor of chemistry

• Focus: The fundamental properties of semiconductors that are made of nanoscale materials
• Award supports: Research on mixed-metal oxide nanocrystals and how the composition of nanocrystals affects their chemical behaviors

Kathryn Mariner, Wilmot Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Visual and Cultural studies

• Focus: The relationship between social inequality and intimacy in the United States
• Award supports: The study of how alternative networks of care are formed within marginalized communities during times of social isolation and under precarious circumstances

This is only the briefest of looks. There’s a lot more to be read about these faculty members (and the colleagues at the Hajim School) and their projects. Check it out.

Zooming In

Taking a closer look at some news we think you might be interested in.

On quantum science. It’s not not the technology behind Marvel’s Ant-Man. And that’s not not what our researchers are working on. It is Avengers-level cool, though. John Nichol, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy, and graduate students Yadav Kandel and Haifeng Qiao are among Rochester researchers reporting major strides in the transfer of information between electrons and quantum systems. One of the methods includes the exploitation of time crystals. If that doesn’t spark your curiosity, you might as well abandon this newsletter now. Learn more.

On dark energy. Again, a strong Marvel vibe here. However, this is very real—in the sense that scientists have posited its existence. Dark energy is a hypothetical entity that makes up more than 70 percent of the universe and is hypothesized to be the source of the universe’s expansion. Researchers from Rochester’s cosmology group are part of an international collaborative effort that will use a Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (not hypothetical; very real) to create a 3D map of the universe. Perhaps this is more Star Trek? You decide. Learn more.

On racism. Specifically, Asian hate. There’s been an epidemic of hate crimes against Chinese and other Asian Americans in the wake of COVID-19. A new Rochester study looks at how we can keep this from spreading. Jiebo Luo, professor of computer science, is examining the public’s opinion on anti-Asian behavior by monitoring Twitter posts using hashtags, such as #StopAsianHate. Luo’s research group hopes this will help them find better ways of “removing tension and misunderstandings between ethnic groups.” Their findings were posted on the open-access repository, arXiv. Learn more.

Quick View

There’s a lot of University news and information being sent your way. Here’s a glance at some other noteworthy School of Arts and Sciences stories you might have missed.

Scholarships. Chosen from a pool of more than 5,000, three students received the highly competitive Goldwater Scholarship.

Awards. In addition to conferring degrees, the University’s commencement ceremonies honored the outstanding.

Ireland. A Rochester historian offers perspective on what was supposed to be a “temporary solution,” 100 years after the partition of Ireland.

Algae. Created by a novel bioprinting technique, an eco-friendly material made of algae could have applications in energy, medicine, and space.

Chemistry. William (Bill) Jones’ groundbreaking research on carbon-hydrogen earns him one of the nation’s highest honors.