Natural Sciences

Helmer Herman Koppelman, past Member (2020–21) in the School of Natural Sciences, has received a 2022 MERAC Prize from the European Astronomical Society for his work in theoretical astrophysics, an exceptional honor for early-career scholars.

""Don’t let fear of getting sucked into a black hole keep you up at night, says Lia Medeiros, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study; you’d have to get really close for that to happen."

Eight past Members in the School of Mathematics and the School of Natural Sciences are among the recipients of the 2022 Sloan Research Fellowships, a landmark honor for early-career scholars. 

"Natalie Paquette spends her time thinking about how to grow an extra dimension. Start with little circles, scattered across every point in space and time—a curlicue dimension, looped back onto itself. Then shrink those circles down, smaller and smaller, tightening the loop, until a curious transformation occurs: the dimension stops seeming tiny and instead becomes enormous, like when you realize something that looks small and nearby is actually huge and distant."

Professor Emeritus Arnold J. Levine has received a 2021 ASPIRE Award from the Mark Foundation for his work on breast cancer research. Along with past Institute Member Steven Altschuler (1992-93) and Benjamin Greenbaum (2008-13, 2017-21), Levine enters a class of twenty-five researchers who are recognized across cancer research disciplines for their innovative solutions and feasible applications.

A new state of matter, known as quantum spin liquid (QSL), was observed for the first time by IAS and Harvard University researchers. The results were published today in the journal Science in a paper co-authored by Subir Sachdev, Maureen and John Hendricks Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Natural Sciences.

Elliott H. Lieb, current Visitor in the School of Natural Sciences, has received the 2022 American Physical Society Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research, the highest honor granted by the Society.

"The Institute for Advanced Study doesn’t have any students or classes. There’s no regular daily agenda full of meetings and conferences. The scholars here don’t even have to research any specific topic. They could spend their whole day walking the grounds or sitting by the lake."

"It is sometimes called 'a scholar’s paradise' – the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton recently welcomed its latest group of 200 top-of-their field scholars from around the world. But despite all of the academics, one of the Institute’s most cherished and longstanding traditions is the 3 p.m. tea time. It is a chance for the members to mix and mingle and to bounce ideas off one another."

By Nima Arkani-Hamed, Professor in the School of Natural Sciences:

"Steven Weinberg, who died on July 23, towered over theoretical physics in the second half of the 20th century. He strongly believed that, armed only with the fundamental principles...