Physics Education
More than 110 students from three Colorado high schools gathered at JILA on April 22, 2026, to present science and engineering projects at the annual PISEC High School Poster Symposium, hosted by the JILA Physics Frontier Center and PISEC. The event offered students hands-on experience in science communication, opportunities to engage with CU researchers, and a firsthand look at JILA research and STEM pathways.
Last October, Q-SEnSE co-led a national Quantum Education & Policy Summit bringing together educators, workforce leaders, and partners from across the U.S. to strengthen coordination in quantum education and workforce development. Released this week alongside the APS Annual Meeting, a new report distills the Summit鈥檚 findings and recommendations for building a more inclusive, connected, and sustainable quantum workforce ecosystem.
In recent years, quantum technology companies have begun to pop up across the United States. These companies design technologies that tap into some of the unique properties of very small things like atoms and electrons. Such technologies include 鈥渜uantum computers鈥 that could one day discover previously unknown medications, or sensors that can detect signs of illness in a single puff of breath. But the growth of the industry also raises a major question, said physicist Heather Lewandowski, one of the project leads: How can the nation better prepare students to enter this uncharted industry?
Physics lab courses are vital to science education, providing hands-on experience and technical skills that lectures can鈥檛 offer. Yet, it鈥檚 challenging for those in Physics Education Research (PER) to compare course to course, especially since these courses vary wildly worldwide.
To better understand these differences, JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Heather Lewandowski and a group of international collaborators are working towards creating a global taxonomy, a classification system that could create a more equitable way to compare these courses. Their findings were recently published in Physical Review Physics Education Research.
On Tuesday, May 28th, Governor Jared Polis made a historic visit to JILA, a joint institute established by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the University of Colorado Boulder, to sign the recently passed Quantum Tax Credit Bill. This legislation aims to incentivize the adoption and development of quantum technology within Colorado, solidifying the state's position as a leader in this cutting-edge field.
To highlight the pivotal role of federal funding in advancing quantum research, the National Science Foundation (NSF) hosted its inaugural Quantum Showcase on Capitol Hill two weeks ago. The event highlighted the potential of government-funded quantum initiatives and included NSF-funded quantum researchers nationwide. JILA, a joint institute between the University of Colorado Boulder and NIST, was represented at the event by JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder Physics Professor Heather Lewandowski and JILA graduate student Qizhong Liang, a member of JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye鈥檚 research group.
Building on efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in physics, 蜜桃传媒破解版下载 Department of Physics and JILA will host a Conference for Undergraduate Women and Gender Minorities in Physics (CU*iP) in January 2025. The conference will bring approximately 150 students from the Midwest region to Boulder.
The three-day regional conferences are sponsored by the American Physical Society (APS) and held annually at select institutions around the country. They are designed to provide professional development opportunities for undergraduate women and gender minorities through networking, keynote speakers, career advice, and graduate school sessions.
The JILA Physics Frontiers Center (PFC), an NSF-funded science center within JILA (a world-leading physics research institute), has recently been awarded a $25 million grant after a re-competition process.
This science center brings together 20 researchers across JILA to collaborate to realize precise measurements and cutting-edge manipulations to harness increasingly complex quantum systems. Since its establishment in 2006, the JILA PFC鈥檚 dedication to advancing quantum research and educating the next generation of scientists has helped it to stand out as the heart of JILA鈥檚 excellence.
Colorado 9News recently interviewed JILA Fellow and University of Colorado Boulder physics professor Heather Lewandowski as she discussed a recent paper with over 1,000 authors. This recent paper, published in the听Astrophysical Journal,听focused on solving the mystery of the Sun's corona, a ring of significantly hotter temperatures surrounding the Sun compared to its core. Lewandowski recruited over 1,000 undergraduate students as researchers to study this phenomenon as they analyzed data from observations of the corona. The entire project took multiple years and culminated in over 56,000 hours of research.听In the 9News interview, Lewandowski stated: "It's really important for us to understand our Sun because it has a large impact on Earth."
JILA Fellow and University of Colorado physics professor Heather Lewandowski helped lead a group of more than 1,000 undergraduate students in a study looking at the temperatures of the Sun's corona. The corona, the outer layer, gets incredibly hot, and the study hoped to figure out why. Their research was featured in Popular Science Magazine,听revealing the creativity and ingenuity of undergraduate students in scientific research.