KITP News Archive

Articles about KITP and featured articles from KITP newsletters

Speaking the Same Language: The Beginnings of Quantitative Biology at KITP

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, new technologies were allowing biologists to generate massive amounts of data, but such data could be messy, and taking advantage of it demanded new quantitative tools.
Read more

Maggie Sherriffs, KITP Special Programs & Evaluation Manager
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

A Stellar Physicist

UC Santa Barbara astrophysicist and KITP Director, Lars Bildsten, named as an inaugural fellow of the American Astronomical Society
 

Where Scientific Method Meets Artistic License

Viewing science at KITP through a different lens
Read more

Gary Smaby
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

An Artistic Odyssey: Beloved interactive art piece Ulysses returns to Kohn Hall

We were very excited this month to see the return of Ulysses, the unique sculpture designed and built by KITP's Artist-in-Residence Jean-Pierre Hebert. 
Read more

Lars Bildsten, KITP Director
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

Real-World Impact

A Testimonial from the KITP Teacher’s Conference
Read more

Bruce Boehne, Middle School Math / Science / STEM Teacher at Zion Lutheran School, Dallas, Texas
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

A Meeting to Remember: The Polchinski Symposium

In December 2018, we held a one-day symposium to celebrate the life and career of late KITP Permanent Member Joe Polchinski.
Read more

Robert Leigh, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign,
and Eva M. Silverstein, Stanford
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

Coronavirus Update

Message from KITP Director, Lars Bildsten regarding Coronavirus

Physicists model the supernovae that result from pulsating supergiants like Betelgeuse

Physics graduate student Jared Goldberg has published a study with Lars Bildsten, director of the campus’s KITP and Gluck Professor of Physics, and KITP Senior Fellow Bill Paxton detailing how a star’s pulsation will affect the ensuing explosion when it does reach the end. (Read more on The Current...)

Waves of Change: KITP collaborators create a computational framework for fluid dynamics

The 2014 Wave-Flows program at the KITP was the ideal place to formulate Dedalus, an open-source computational framework that solves intricate classes of  problems accurately and efficiently. Potential applications for Dedalus include fluid, chemical, radiation and biological transport problems in stars, planets, and laboratories.
Read more

Megan Turley, KITP Development Coordinator
KITP Newsletter, Fall 2019

KITP Public Lecture: Wednesday, February 26, 2019 7:00 pm

Professor Cumrun Vafa presents "The String Landscape, the Swampland, and Our Universe"  learn more and RSVP at the event page.

(View Flyer)

KITP Fall 2019 Newsletter

KITP Fall 2019 Newsletter

The Fall 2019 KITP Newsletter is now available!
(Read More)

A Community of Female Theorists at KITP

During her time as an organizer of the Intertwined Order and Fluctuations in Quantum Materials program in 2017, Cornell Professor of Physics Eun-Ah Kim initiated a series of regular lunches for women at KITP. Kim saw the lunches as an opportunity to cultivate a community of female theorists that was not available at their home institutions, and jumped at the chance to provide such a resource.

“KITP is a selective place,” She explains her reasoning behind the lunches, “Hence people who make it to KITP have a real shot at climbing the ladder and improving the stubbornly-stuck gender ratio at the senior level. Young female researchers coming to KITP often do not have senior women theorists who can be their mentor at their home institutions. Only at KITP will they have a chance to meet these senior women theorists.”

The lunches in the second-floor Tower Room at Kohn Hall provide encouragement to younger theorists who learn that their struggles, ranging from imposter syndrome and the two-body problem to insensitive comments from colleagues, are shared by others. For more senior theorists, it is an opportunity to encourage each other as they navigate the next steps in their careers.

The lunches continue to be popular among arriving program participants, 20% of whom are women. Although they formed out of a desire for female theorists to build a community, the meetings do not exclude anyone from participating. With the help of Program Manager David Kaczorowski and Deputy Director Mark Bowick, KITP formally facilitates the gatherings, which are now known simply as “Tower Room Lunches.”

“We provide the resources,” Kaczorowski explains, “But the participants decide what it becomes.”

A Flash and a Shudder

New findings detail a method for investigating the inner workings of stars in a rare phase (Read more)

KITP Call for Proposals 2019

Now is the time to submit program pre-proposals or full proposals for the 2021-2022 academic year. KITP activities consist of 2-4 month focused research programs. "Pre-proposal" submissions need not be elaborate — a title, at least two paragraphs explaining the idea, suggestions for organizers and key program participants, and an indication of whether you will desire a four day conference as part of the program is adequate. Members of the KITP and the Advisory Board will review these pre-proposals, encourage the development of promising ones into full proposals, and guide coordination of proposals in related areas. Program planning proceeds through Fall 2019 and reaches preliminary conclusions in early February 2020.
These will be of greatest use if they arrive by November 1, 2019.

KITP Public Lecture: Wednesday, October 30, 2019, 7:00 PM

Professor Jairo Sinova presents "From Magnetic Cats to Artificial Intelligence: the Circular Technological Revolution of Spintronics"  learn more and RSVP at the event page.

(View Flyer)

Now Accepting Applications for Postdocs in Quantum Materials Theory

The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics (KITP) seeks applicants for two Moore Postdoctoral Scholar positions in quantum materials theory, beginning September 1, 2020. This postdoctoral program is part of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Systems initiative (EPiQS). For more information, and to apply, please visit Academic Jobs Online: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/14267. Apply by November 1, 2019 for primary consideration.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Now Accepting Applications for Postdocs in Theoretical Physics

The Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California, Santa Barbara expects to appoint Postdoctoral Scholars in theoretical physics, beginning September 1, 2020. For more information, and to apply, please visit Academic Jobs Online: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/14183. Apply by November 15, 2019 for primary consideration.

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Order from Chaos: Tracing the Life and Death of Stars

Over dinner and drinks, KITP Postdoctoral Scholar Benny Tsang will share how recent technologies transform astrophysicists into cosmic detectives, allowing them to decipher the secrets of how stars are born and how they end their lives in spectacular events. Join us on Wednesday, August 28 for café KITP at SOhO Restaurant.

KITP Spring 2019 Newsletter

The Spring 2019 KITP Newsletter is now available!

Read More

KITP Announces Research Programs for 2020-2021

Working with KITP’s Advisory Board and the international physics community, KITP has developed new programs for the 2020-2021 academic year. Ranging from Ecology and Evolution of Microbial Communities to Integrability in String, Field and Condensed Matter Theory, these twelve programs provide a rich breadth of research opportunities. Applications are now open for participation in all programs. View upcoming 2020-2021 programs and apply at https://www.kitp.ucsb.edu/programs.