Many opportunities are available for undergraduate research in Physics. The Departmental research focus areas of Soft Condensed Matter (theoretical and experimental) and Biophysics (experimental) include faculty working in larger laboratories/groups on many interesting sub-topics within these two areas. Science writing and journalism research explores the parallels between the arts and sciences. Design, construction and application of new instrumentation, a hallmark of physics research, is supported in several laboratories. The new DFM Telescope and planetarium in the Mathematics & Science Center allow us to offer, for the first time, research projects in astronomy.

Participating Physics Faculty & Research Topics
Click on the faculty member's name to view personal webpages that describe their research in greater detail.

Keith Berland, Associate Professor.
General Area: Experimental biophysics.
Specific Interests: A wide variety of undergraduate research opportunities are available in the biophotonics lab, ranging from the development of novel optical instrumentation to the application of high-sensitivity fluorescence measurements to investigate protein dynamics and interactions. Many of our research projects are highly interdisciplinary, and appropriate for students interested in physics, biophysics, biochemistry, and even cell biology. Students interested in instrumentation can participate in designing and building new optical devices, or in writing software for instrument control and data analysis.

Stefan Boettcher, Assistant Professor.
General Area: Theoretical soft condensed matter physics.
Specific Interests: My research focuses on computational and theoretical problems in strongly disordered systems, with applications ranging from evolutionary dynamics and amorphous materials to combinatorial optimization. Undergraduate research projects are available, requiring little previous knowledge, except for some experience with computational methods in Fortran, C, or Java, etc. Projects will teach how to model and simulate physical processes, and how to collect, evaluate, and present statistical data efficiently, with the goal to publish the results as journal articles.

Raymond DuVarney, Associate Professor.
General Area: Experimental; adaptive optics, astronomy.
Specific Interests: Projects are available in the development and application of astronomical instrumentation, specifically CCD camera technology and its use in astronomy. In addition, there are opportunities in the general areas of electronics and instrumentation (digital, analog).

Fereydoon Family, Professor.
General Area: Theoretical soft condensed matter physics.
Specific Interests:

• Nanobiolgy, Dynamics of Molecular Motors
• Nonequilibrium Growth Phenomnea, Thin Film Deposition
• Nonlinear Dynamics, Fractals, Control of Chaotic Systems
• Dynamics of Surfaces and Interfaces, Self-affine Fractal Surfaces.

Laura Finzi, Associate Professor.
General Area: Molecular biophysics.
Specific Interests: Single-molecule Biophysics, transcriptional regulation of genes.

Undergraduate research opportunities: A variety of undergraduate research projects are available, ranging from the study of transcriptional regulation of genes using single-molecule microscopy to the development of novel optical instrumentation. The mechanical properties of DNA and the interaction with regulatory proteins which change its topology are at the basis of the phenomena we study. Students interested in instrumentation can participate in designing and building a novel optical microscope, or in writing software for instrument control and data analysis. Our research projects are highly interdisciplinary, and appropriate for students interested in biophysics, biochemistry, molecular biology, and instrumentation.

George Hentschel, Professor.
General Area: Theoretical soft condensed matter physics; biocomplexity.
Specific Interests: (1) Simulations of multicellular biological development. We will examine the early stages of avian limb development, and how cells aggregate to form skeletal elements. (2) Simulations of calcium signalling inside synapses. We will examine how calcium is transported inside a neuronal synapse, and especially examine the relationship between an external signal and how calcium responds inside the cell.

Boi Hanh (Vincent) Huynh, Professor.
General Area: Experimental biophysics.
Specific Interests: Mössbauer spectroscopy of iron proteins.

Sidney Perkowitz, Professor.
General Areas: Science writing and interdisciplinary projects.
Specific Interests: Research opportunities are available for students majoring in or interested in science, journalism, English, and other areas, who want to carry out projects in science writing and science journalism; or in interdisciplinary areas such as science, technology, and art; history of science; and technology and society.

Ivan Rasnik, Assistant Professor.
General Area: Molecular and Cellular Biophysics.
Specific Interests: Our goal is to understand biological systems at the molecular level. Using fluorescence techniques as Fluorescence Resonant Energy Transfer (FRET) with single molecule sensitivity, we are able to study conformational changes in bio-systems in the sub-nanometer scale. We look to understand the systems under study both from their biological significance and the underlying physics. We are interested not only in the application of existing techniques but also in the development of new ones.

Connie Roth, Assistant Professor.
General Area: Experimental soft-condensed matter physics.
Specific Interests: We study the physical and dynamical properties of polymers. How polymer molecules are perturbed by their surroundings and how these effects can be used to create polymer materials with unique properties. Research focuses on fundamental understanding that will lead to innovations for new technological applications.

Undergraduate Research Opportunities: Undergraduate students will have an opportunity to participate in current research projects often working closely with a particular graduate student in the group. All efforts will be made to find research projects that are sufficiently self-contained as to come to some form of conclusion at the end of the research term, but the nature of research is that you will be trying something new. The undergraduate student will be considered an integral member of the group, thus gaining a feel for the graduate school experience.

Phil Segrè, Assistant Professor.
General Areas: Experimental soft condensed matter physics.
Specific Interests: Complex liquids, fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, gelation and jamming of colloidal solutions, and surface tension induced instabilities. In our lab we study the non-linear dynamics of a wide variety of systems. In colloidal solutions, using light scattering methods, we examine how solidification/gelation occurs in weakly attractive colloidal suspensions. We also investigate, using PIV flow imaging, the particle dynamics and flow instabilities that occur when fluid passes through a collection of settling or fluidized spheres. Thermal (IR) imaging methods allow us to investigate the Marangoni instability induced by evaporative cooling from volatile liquids.

Kurt Warncke, Associate Professor.
General Area: Experimental biophysics.
Specific Interests: Projects are available to study the molecular mechanisms (structure and dynamics) of biocatalysis in enzymes by using techniques of electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy and optical absorption spectroscopy. Some projects involve the use of pulsed- and continuous-wave lasers. There are also opportunities to design and build novel instrumentation for application in magnetic resonance studies.

Eric Weeks, Associate Professor.
General Area: Experimental soft condensed matter physics
Specific Interests: In our lab we study the properties and dynamics of complex fluids, mainly using microscopy. What happens when glasses solidify? What behavior do we see in materials when they are out of equilibrium? What happens when we push the limits of applications of statistical mechanics, by studying simple materials such as shaving cream foam or sand piles?

Richard Williamon, Director, Emory Planetarium / Senior Lecturer.
General Area: Experimental astronomy.
Specific Interests: The new telescope and associated camera in the Mathematics & Science Center will be used to study variable stars and eclipsing binary stars by using CCD photometry.