2025
July 2025
Congratulations to Keegan Tonry for successfully defending their MS thesis at RIT!
Learning From Biology to Design Self-Healing Infrastructure | The Academic Minute podcast (AAC&U) | June 2025
June 2025
We don’t understand yogurt | Unexplainable (Vox) | June 2025
On the Unexplainable podcast, Rae M. Robertson-Anderson explains why familiar household soft materials can present research problems as compelling as the search for a Grand Unified Theory.
March 2025
January 2025
Congratulations to Katarina Matic who was awarded a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship!
Qiaopeng Chen is awarded a Heeger Travel Fellowship to support his participation at the 2025 APS Global Physics Summit where he presented his DMREF research
Congratulations to Qiaopeng Chen for advancing to PhD candidacy in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UC Santa Barbara!
USD Physics Professor goes viral teaching physics on social media | CBS 8 Zevely Zone
2024
July 2024
Maya Hendija and Rae Robertson-Anderson are featured in a Spectrum News article covering futuristic materials!
Check out the article on the Spectrum News website.
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for being awarded the Pyramid Award from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation!
Congratulations to Katarina Matic who was awarded a prestigious Beckman Scholars Program Award!
Learn more about the program at the Beckman Scholars website.
February 2024
Congratulations to Megan Valentine for being elected as a Member-at-Large of the Adhesion Society Executive Committee!
Congratulations to Jenny Ross for being appointed to the APS March Meeting Chairline!
Congratulations to Qiaopeng Chen for being awarded the Heeger Fellowship!
For more details, see the Valentine website.
2023
November 2023
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for being voted as the STEM Pioneer Woman of the Year by San Diego Magazine!
For more details, visit the San Diego Magazine website.
October 2023
Congratulations to Moumita Das for being named a 2023 APS Fellow!
Citation: For fundamental mechanistic insights into the collective properties and rigidity transitions in multi-component biological and bio-inspired soft materials, and for contributions to building an inclusive and diverse soft matter community.
May 2023
Congratulations to Maya Hendija for being awarded an SPS Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research!
This award from the Society of Physics Students recognizes students based on exceptional research achievement. For additional details, see the SPS website.
April 2023
The USD Vista wrote a feature story on Maya Nugent’s and Rae Robertson-Anderson’s outstanding achievements recognized at APS March Meeting!
Read the feature here!
March 2023
Congratulations to Maya Hendija and Rae Robertson-Anderson for being awarded a 2023 Cottrell Postbac Award!
This award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) supports the work of an undergraduate senior working under the supervision of a Cottrell Scholar for a year after graduation. Rae and Maya are one of seven scholar-trainee pairs that received this award this year. For more details, see the RCSA website.
Congratulations to Maya Nugent for being awarded an APS Division of Soft Matter Poster Award!
Maya received this award for the poster that she presented at APS March Meeting. She is one of only 4 award recipients (out of over 100 posters) and the only undergraduate.
February 2023
Congratulations to Yongkui Tang for being awarded a Heeger Fellowship!
This award will support his upcoming travel to the APS March Meeting in Las Vegas, where he will present results of his hydrogen design and mechanics work. For more details, see the Valentine lab website.
January 2023
Congratulations to Jenny Ross for being named a 2022 AAAS Fellow!
This honor was presented by the Physics section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, “for [Dr. Ross’s] distinguished contributions to biophysics, particularly for experimentally elucidating regulatory mechanisms in intracellular transport.” Read the press release from Syracuse.
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for receiving the 2022-23 Glenn D. White, Jr. ‘78 Faculty Research Award!
This award recognizes research mentors that bring respect and excellence to the practice of mentoring undergraduates in research and scholarly activities. For more details, visit the USD OURMA webpage.
2022
October 2022
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for receiving the 2023 APS Prize for Research in an Undergraduate Institution!
This award honors a physicist whose research in an undergraduate setting has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to physics and who has contributed substantially to the professional development of undergraduate physics students.
September 2022
Congratulations to Rae Robertson-Anderson for being named a 2022 APS Fellow!
Citation: For pioneering microrheology and microscopy experiments that elucidate the mechanics and dynamics of bio-inspired soft matter systems and complex biopolymer networks, and advancing undergraduate physics research and curriculum.
May 2022
Congratulations to Daisy Achiloraie for being awarded a Barry Goldwater Scholarship!
See this press release from Scripps College.
2021
October 2021
Our team is awarded a $1.8 million grant from the NSF!
Read press releases from the USD News Center and the UCSB Current.