Ashok Kumar Das, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Rochester, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to perform research and lecture on finite temperature field theories at the University of São Paulo in Brazil from February to June 2007.
Das' area of research involves theoretical high energy physics. He focuses on questions of symmetry in the fundamental laws of nature. In São Paulo, Das will be working on and teaching finite temperature field theories, and problems in quantum field theory and string theory.
An elected fellow of the American Physical Society since 2002, Das has received University and departmental awards for his undergraduate and graduate teaching, a Rockefeller Foundation Award in 2004, and his first Fulbright Fellowship during the 1997-1998 academic year. He also received the Outstanding Junior Investigator Award from the U.S. Department of Energy for 1983 to 1989. He is the author of more than 200 published research papers and 11 books for undergraduate and advanced levels.
Das received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees in physics from the University of Delhi in India, and his doctorate in physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has taught at the University of Rochester since 1982 and was named professor in 1993. Since 2005, he has been adjunct professor of physics at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics in India.
Fulbright recipients number more than 30,000 individuals participating in U.S. Department of State exchange programs each year. For more than 40 years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the United States and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.