
The year of the laser
In addition to their Nobel noteworthiness, Rochester researchers continue to develop new ways to apply lasers in research, medicine, and everyday life in 2018. Because frankly, we’re big on lasers.

The science of seeing art and color
In each of more than 40 paintings of the same scene—London’s Waterloo Bridge—Impressionist artist Claude Monet manipulates viewer perception in a way that scientists at the time did not completely understand.

Rochester represents at Nobel Prize ceremony
Three scholars with ties to the University of Rochester received the Nobel Prize in their fields at the 2018 ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden. The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to both Donna Strickland ’89 (PhD) and her graduate advisor and former senior scientist Gérard Mourou, for work that paved the way for more compact and precise high-intensity laser systems. In addition, Paul Romer, a former assistant professor in the Department of Economics, has been awarded a shared Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work in endogenous growth theory.

Will data science and smartphone apps predict if you are telling the truth?
Imagine if lie-detection apps became widely available on everyone’s phones or computers. Computer scientist Ehsan Hoque will use a new $1 million grant to explore the benefits and ethical risks of this type of tech.

Two Rochester scientists named AAAS fellows
Kara Bren of the Department of Chemistry and Robert Boyd of the Institute of Optics are being recognized for their “efforts toward advancing scientific applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”

Researchers detect high-energy radiation from ‘weird’ star system
Rochester researchers are part of an international collaboration of scientists that has, for the first time, detected extremely high-energy gamma rays from one of the most powerful star systems in the Milky Way.

CEE receives $1 million grant for campus solar project
The solar and energy storage system, to be built on the roof of the Goergen Athletic Center, will offset energy needs of a new office building south of Hutchison Hall.

Data Science Consortium gives member companies a data edge
Since its inception in 2017, the consortium has expanded the number of member companies and created a pool of skilled data science students to assist companies on short notice.

Collaborative ‘back and forth’ drives progress on freeform optics
With a second five years of funding from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Freeform Optics is a collaboration working to develop devices that are lighter, more compact, and more effective than ever before.

Peering into what goes awry in schizophrenia
What cognitive processes contribute to how we function in a social world, and where do those processes break down? David Dodell-Feder—a new assistant professor of psychology—brings brain imaging, neuroscience, and even music and literature to bear in his research on the science of social connection.