News

In a process akin to belling an infinitesimal cat, scientists have managed to tag a protein that regulates the neurotransmitter serotonin with tiny fluorescent beads, allowing them to track the movements of single molecules for the first time. The capability, which took nearly a decade to achieve, makes it possible… Read More

Vanderbilt is on track this year to become the number one producer of minority Ph.D. recipients in physics, astronomy and materials science, an area where minorities are grossly underrepresented. Watch the emotional journey of the latest doctoral graduates from the Fisk-Vanderbilt-Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program. https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/06/08/vucast-extra-bridge-program/  … Read More

How can you squeeze electricity from a blackberry? A number of local high school students can answer this question from personal experience. They have actually made solar cells out of blackberry juice and measured the electrical power that they produce as part of an educational outreach program started this year… Read More

Andrew Steigerwald is trading a Vanderbilt physics laboratory for the halls of Congress. The post-doctoral researcher has been selected by the Materials Research Society (MRS) and the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) as their 2012-2013 Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow. Starting in September he will… Read More

Last December a trio of Vanderbilt researchers — Rick Haselton, professor of biomedical engineering, David Wright, associate professor of chemistry, and Ray Mernaugh, associate professor of biochemistry — snagged a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a “low tech, high… Read More

With the age of the incandescent light bulb fading rapidly, the holy grail of the lighting industry is to develop a highly efficient form of solid-state lighting that produces high quality white light. One of the few alternative technologies that produce pure white light is white-light quantum dots. These are… Read More

A group of Vanderbilt students, faculty and staff will share their research and passion for science and technology with middle and high school students at the nation’s largest science fair April 27-29 in Washington, D.C. The second annual USA Science & Engineering Festival and Book Fair, held… Read More

Tony Hmelo’s research has taken him from NASA to nanoscience and from New York to Nashville. Hmelo is associate director for operations and outreach for the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, the interdisciplinary group researching new science and technology based on tiny—nanoscale—materials. (Nanotechnology is widely considered… Read More

Five faculty members were recognized for their achievements in and out of the classroom by Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos at the Spring Faculty Assembly. Professors Paul Laibinis, Emily Nacol, Sohee Park, Suzanna Sherry and Janos Sztipanovits were selected for the awards by… Read More

These days, graphene is the rock star of materials science, but it has an Achilles heel: It is exceptionally sensitive to its electrical environment. This single-atom-thick honeycomb of carbon atoms is lighter than aluminum, stronger than steel and conducts heat and electricity better than copper. As a result, scientists around… Read More