Colloquia and Seminars

Our department hosts regular guest lectures, colloquia and seminars showcasing research from visiting scholars, faculty and students.

Colloquia are usually held on Wednesdays from 4:00-5:00 p.m in-person in Olin 105

Next Talk

Wednesday, May 7, 2025 at 4:00 pm in Olin 105

Surface Science as a Guide to CdSeTe Photovoltaics

Dr. Ryan Muzzio, Postdoctoral Researcher, National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)

Spring 2025 Schedule

Apr 9, Unconventional Spin-Orbit Torque, Vivek Amin, Indiana University Indianapolis
Apr 16, Using multimessenger observations to connect massive stars to their explosive ends, Manisha Shrestha, University of Arizona
Apr 23, Seeing More with MRI: Materials Physics for Contrast, Sensing, and Metrology, Sam Oberdick, NIST
Apr 30, Adeene Denton, Kiss-and-Capture Preserves an Ancient Charon Around Pluto, SWRI
May 7, Ryan Muzziuo, Surface Science as a Guide to CdSeTe Photovoltaics, NREL
May 14, Kirill Belashchenko, Nebraska
May 21, Shuo Sun, CU Boulder and JILA
May 28, Noel Richardson, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Jun 4, 1st year Graduate Students Presentation

Past Speakers and Topics

Winter 2025
- Jan 10, Probing the dynamics and interactions of disordered proteins with single-molecule spectroscopy: From disordered complexes to phase separation, Benjamin Schuler, University of Zurich
- Jan 15 Chiral Organic/Inorganic Hybrid Semiconductors, Matt Beard, NREL
- Jan 22 Optimal control in engineering quantum dynamics, Zhexuan Gong, Colorado School of Mines
- Jan 27 Shubhayu Chatterjee, Carnegie Mellon University (Cancelled)
- Jan 29 Plasmons and Hybrid Plasmons for Highly Sensitive Biomedical Sensors, Sangho Bok, University of Denver
- Feb 5 Leveraging point-spread function engineering and deep learning for 3D molecular tracking of biomolecules, Schuyler Van Engelenburg, University of Denver
- Feb 12 Exploring the Energy Landscapes of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins, Vitor Barbanti Pereira Leite, Universidade Estadual Paulista
- Mar 5 What’s out there? Exploring the Role of Teaching Professors in Higher Ed, Azure Avery, MSU Denver
- Mar 12 Manipulation of antiferromagnetic magnon polarization in synthetic antiferromagnets, Yoichi Shiota, Kyoto University

Fall 2024
- Sep 11, Department Research Overview
- Sep 24 Reshaping light using metasurface flat optics, Tian Gu, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Oct 2 Is RuO2 an altermagnet? John Q. Xiao, University of Delaware
- Oct 9 A Scientific Journey: From Power Grid Dynamics to Visualization for Decision-Making, Sam Molnar, National Renewable Energy Lab
- Oct 16 Probabilistic Computing with p-bits: Optimization, Machine Learning and Quantum Simulation, Kerem Camsari, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Oct 23 Nonlinear Magnetization Dynamics: From Continuum to Atomic Regimes, Ezio Iacocca, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
- Oct 30 Optical Spin Generation in Metals and its Application for Ultrafast Spin Torque, Gyungmin Choi, Sungkyunkwan University
- Nov 6 Plasmons and Hybrid Plasmons for Highly Sensitive Biomedical Sensors, Sangho Bok, University of Denver (Cancelled due to weather. Rescheduled to next quarter)
- Nov 13 Alessondra Springmann, Radar Love: The Scientific and Cultural Legacies of Arecibo Observatory's Planetary Radar System, University of Colorado, Boulder

Winter-Spring 2024
- May 29, Nonlinear Effects in Magnetic Systems: from Nano to Macro Scales, Dr. Dmytro Bozhko, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
- May 22, First-year Physics & Astronomy Graduate Student Presentations, Ethan Cole and Nick Lam, University of Denver
- May 16, Bridging the Geometric and Quantum Information of Structured Light, Drew Voitiv, University of Denver
- April 17, Clickety-clack: a non-equilibrium model of cortical activity performs optimal inference, Dr. Jochen Braun, University of Magdeburg
- January 17, Hybrid Magnonics Dr. Mathias Weiler, University of Kaiserslautern-Landau,

Fall 2023
- September 13, Faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, A Research Overview
- September 20, Metasurfaces, physics, and applications, Patrice Genevet, Colorado School of Mines
- October 4, Sabbatical Sojourns: Navigating Research and Culture in Germany, Taiwan, and Japan, Xin Fan, University of Denver
- October 11, Jennifer Hoffman, University of Denver
- October 18, Jorge "Nico" Hernandez Charpak, APS Office of Science Policy
- October 25, Khuloud Jaqaman, UT Southwestern
- November 1, Emily Griffith, CU Boulder
- November 8, Jifa Tian, University of Wyoming
- November 15, Chip Durfee, Colorado School of Mines

Summer 2023
- July 26: Dr. Manuel Vázquez (Spanish Council for Research, IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer) Host: Zink
- August 3: Jhen-Yong Hong (Tamkang University) Host: Fan
- August 15: Jochen Braun (Otto-von-Guericke University) Host: Ghosh
- August 28: Geoff Diederich (University of Washington) Host: Siemens

Fall 2022
- Sept. 7: (Special Time, Orientation week): Dr. Tiffany Santos (Western Digital Research Center, IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer) Host: Zink
- Sept. 14: DU Physics & Astronomy Faculty Research Overview
- Sept. 28: Prof. Angela Di Fulvio (University of Illinois/Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction) Host: Zink
- Oct. 5: Prof. Jingsheng Chen (National University of Singapore, IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer) Host: Zink
- Oct. 12: Prof. Steve Iona (University of Denver Physics & Astronomy) Host: Zink
- Oct. 19: Prof. Michael Flatte (University of Iowa, IEEE Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer) Host: Zink

Spring 2022
- Apr. 13: Prof. Roopali Kukreja, UC Davis Materials Science (Host: Zink)
- June 23: Prof. Aurelien Manchon, Aix-Marseille University (Host: Zink)

Winter 2022
- Jan. 12: Naomi Pequette, DU Physics & Astronomy (Host: Zink)
- Jan. 26: Dr. Connie Li, Navy Research Lab (Host: Zink)
- Feb. 16: Dr. Pankaj Jha, Caltech (Host: Zink)
- Feb. 23: Dr. Mojammel Khan, Johns Hopkins University (Host: Zink)
- Mar. 2: Dr. Yishu Wang, Johns Hopkins University (Host: Zink)
- Mar. 9: Dr. Pavel Salev, UC San Diego (Host: Zink)

Fall 2021
- Sept. 15: DU Physics & Astronomy Research Overview (Balzar, et al)
- Sept. 22: Prof. Steve Iona, DU Physics & Astronomy (Host: Zink)
- Sept. 27: NOTE SPECIAL DAY AND TIME. Joint Colloquium with Biology: Prof. Sarah Bronwell, Arizona State University (Host: Loerke)
- Oct. 13: Prof. Kathrin Spendier, UCCS Biophysics, (Host: Siemens)
- Oct. 27: Dr. Shinsuke Ideguchi, Radboud University, Netherlands (VIRTUAL, Host: Hoffman)
- Nov. 17: Prof. Vivek Aji, University of California, Riverside (VIRTUAL, Host: Ghosh)

Spring 2021
- Mar. 31: Dr. Kathryn Neugent, U. Washington/Lowell Observatory (Host: Hoffman)
- Apr. 7: Dr. Qudsia Sara Quraishi, Adjunct Asst Professor, U Maryland (Host: Siemens)
- May 12: Prof. Fred Gray, Regis University (Host: Stencel)
- May 19: Prof. Amy Roberts, CU Denver (Host: Cisneros)
- May 26: DU P&A I2R students
- Jun. 2: DU P&A I2R students

Winter 2021
- Jan. 13: No Colloquium
- Jan. 20: Prof. Barry Zink, University of Denver
- Jan. 27: Dr. Sara Restuccia, Uni. Glasgow (Host: Siemens) NOTE SPECIAL TIME 10 am Denver time
- Feb. 3:
- Feb. 10:
- Feb. 17: Prof. Kristen Buchanan, CSU (Host: Zink)
- Feb. 24: Dr. Nikos Kopidakis, NREL (Host: Ghosh)
- Mar. 3: Dr. Chan La-o-vorakiat, Seagate Thailand (Host: Siemens)
- Mar. 10:
- Mar. 17: Prof. Norm Buchanan, CSU (Host: Zink)

Fall 2020
- Sept. 16: DU Physics & Astronomy Research Overview
- Sept. 23: Prof. Banu Ozkan (Arizona State University. Host: Ghosh)
- Oct. 1: Dr. Manisha Shrestha (Liverpool John Moores University. Host: Hoffman)
- Oct. 7: Prof. Fred Sarazin (Colorado School of Mines, Physics. Host: Siemens)
- Oct. 14: Dr. Archana Soam (NASA Ames. Host: Hoffman)
- Oct. 21: Prof. Yohannes Abate (University of Georgia. Host: Siemens)
- Oct. 28: Prof. Alex Huffman (DU Chemistry. Host: Ghosh)
- Nov. 4: Dr. Thienbao Nguyen Carpency, (US Air Force Academy. Host: Siemens)
- Nov. 11: Prof. Galan Moody (UC Santa Barbara ECE. Host: Siemens)
- Nov. 18: Prof. Jan Eldridge (University of Auckland. Host: Hoffman)

Fall 2019

October 30
Takahiro Moriyama, Division of Materials Chemistry, University of Tokyo

October 23
Johannes Löhner-Böttcher, High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

October 16
Mark Steger, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

October 9
Vivek Amin, Electron Physics Group, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

October 5
Mingzhong Wu, Department of Physics, Colorado State University
Spring 2019

June 5
Investigating New Methods to Improve Perovskite Solar Cells
Amani Alfaifi, Doctoral Candidate, University of Denver

May 29
Multi-Generational Analysis and Manipulation of Chromosomes in Polyploid Cyanobacteria
Jeffery Cameron, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, University of Colorado Boulder

May 22
Looking at Life through Randomness
Susanta Sarkar, Assistant Professor of Physics
Colorado School of Mines

May 15
Spintronics Metrology with Magnetic Oscillators
Emilie Jué, Research Physicist
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

May 1
First-Year Graduate Student Research Presentations
Sam Bleser – Spin Transport in Crystalline Si and Ge
Leopoldo Hernandez – Spin Transport in a- Cr2O3
Rachel Johnson – Shedding Polarized Light on Long-Duration Gamma Ray
David Melnick – Imaging of Dust Shells: A Status
Matt Natale – Thermoelectric Properties of Carbon Nanotube Networks
Charles Payne – Vortices in Polariton Condensates

April 17
Engineering Exchange Interactions in Complex Oxide Systems
Yayoi Takamura, Professor and Vice Chair of Materials Science and Engineering
University of California, Davis
Marsico Visiting Scholar

April 16
Revealing the Hidden Universe with Supercomputer Simulations of Black Hole Mergers
Manuela Campanelli, Director
Center for Computational Relativity and Gravitation
Rochester Institute of Technology

April 10
Diagnosing Light Pollution Sources: The Physics and Potential Remediation
Robert Stencel, William Herschel Womble Astronomy Professor
University of Denver
Herbert Howe Lecture

April 9
Facilitating Thinking and Learning in and beyond the STEM Disciplines
Chandralekha Singh, Director
Discipline-Based Science Education Research Center, University of Pittsburgh
Winter 2019

March 13
Infrared Laser Technology: From Ultrafast Thulium Fiber Lasers to Mid-Infrared Vibrational Photothermal Imaging
Michelle Sander, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Boston University

Current-Induced Magnetization Control and Spin Transport in Ferromagnetic Heterostructures
Can Onur Avci, Senior Postdoc
ETH Zurich

March 6
Optical Study of the Fermi Liquid Behavior of a Sr2RuO4
Will Holtzman, Undergraduate Student
University of Denver

Computational Study of Higgs and z-Bozon Decays
Abigail Grotelueschen, Undergraduate Student
University of Denver

February 27
From the Climate on Pluto to the Weather on I-70: Problems a Physicist Can Solve
Dr. Angela Zalucha, Data Scientist
Panasonic Automotive

February 20
Next-Generation Computational Imaging and Massively-Multiplexed Metrologies
Daniel Adams, Assistant Professor of Physics
Colorado School of Mines

February 19
Coupling of Light's Orbital Angular Momentum to a Quantum Dot Ensemble (Dissertation Defense)
Alaa Bahamran, Graduate Research Assistant
University of Denver

February 15
Quantitative Aspects of Interface Remodeling During Germband Extension (Dissertation Defense)
Tim Vanderleest, Graduate Research Assistant
University of Denver

February 13
Realizing the Volt in the Quantum SI
Anna Fox, Quantum Electromagnetics Division
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

February 6
Adaptive and Nonlinear Optical Devices
Juliet Gopinath, Associate Professor of Electrical Computer and Energy Engineering
University of Colorado Boulder

January 30
Alien Worlds Transiting the Closest Stars in the Sky
Zachory Berta-Thompson, Assistant Professor of Astronomy and Planetary Sciences
University of Colorado Boulder

January 23
Resistance Is Not Futile: Pinning Down Elusive Vortices in Superconductors
Serena Eley, Assistant Professor of Physics
Colorado School of Mines

January 16
Metamorphosis: New Views of Supernovae and Progenitors
Jennifer Hoffman, Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy
University of Denver
Fall 2018

November 14
Bringing the Microscope to the Mouse
Emily Gibson, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
University of Colorado Denver

November 7
Analytical Methods in the Geosciences: Developing a Geochemical Model for the Highest-Grade Uranium Deposit in the World
John DeDecker, PhD Candidate
Colorado School of Mines

October 31
The Science of WFIRST: And Upcoming NASA Flagship Observatory
Sarah Lipscy, OMPS Deputy Program Manager and Instrument Scientist
Ball Aerospace

October 24
Single Flux Quantum-Based Neuromorphic Computing
Michael Schneider, Physicist
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

October 17
Highly-Relativistic Ultrashort Pulse Laser Interaction with Nanostructures: X-Ray and Neutron Generation
Jorge Rocca, University Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Colorado State University

October 10
Dinah Loerke, Associate Professor of Biophysics
University of Denver

September 26
Magnetic Nanostructures for Information Storage and Processing
Dan Read, Senior Lecturer, Condensed Matter and Photonics Group
Cardiff University School of Physics and Astronomy

September 19
Shedding Light on Quantum Turbulence
Sam Alperin, Graduate Student
University of Denver/Cambridge University

September 12
Research Overview
DU Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty

May 2025

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