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Friday, December 12, 2025
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New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News From McDonnell Center Fellows
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Mark Alford awarded Humboldt Research Award
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Mark Alford will spend next semester in Frankfurt, Germany after receiving a prestigious Humboldt Research Award, an honor that recognizes internationally renowned scholars whose work has had a lasting impact on their field. The award will support a seven-month research stay at the Institute for Theoretical Physics (ITP) at Goethe University in Frankfurt, where he will deepen collaborations and pursue new directions in his study of dense matter in neutron stars.
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Welcome, New Faculty Fellows!
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Chong Zu and Trevor GrandPre are assistant professors of physics and both have just accepted our offer to become fellows in the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.
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Chong's research employs solid-state spin defects as quantum sensors for a wide range of applications. In alignment with the MCSS mission, his recent work includes using diamond quantum sensors to map remnant magnetism in Apollo lunar samples, visualize stress in materials under extreme pressure, and develop quantum-enabled X-ray detectors with enhanced spatial and energy resolution.
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| Trevor's research focuses on non-equilibrium statistical physics and soft condensed matter physics, with an emphasis on criticality in biological systems. Among his interests is astrobiology, including the study and engineering of microbial systems for carbon fixation in space.
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Reminder: Celebration of Life
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The celebration of life in honor of Ken Kelton will be tomorrow, Saturday, December 13th at 10:30am, at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 6800 Washington Ave. St. Louis, MO.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to the Winger Food Pantry in care of Trinity Presbyterian Church.
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Recent Publications by McDonnell Center Fellows
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Htet, Y., Sudvarg, M., Yang, H., Buhler, J., Chamberlain, R., & Buckley, J. (2025). Modeling and Optimizing Real-Time Telescope Interaction for Multi-wavelength Observation of Gamma-ray Bursts (pp. 2161–2168) [Proceedings of 2025 Workshops of the International Conference on High Performance Computing, Network, Storage, and Analysis, SC 2025 Workshops].
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King, G. B., Chambers-Wall, G., Gnech, A., Pastore, S., Piarulli, M., & Wiringa, R. B. (2025). Electromagnetic radii of light nuclei from variational Monte Carlo calculations. Physical Review. C, 112(4).
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MCSS Postdoctoral Fellowship Opening
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MCSS is hiring a postdoctoral fellow in the broad field of space sciences. We welcome applicants with interests in Astromaterials, Cosmochemistry, or Meteoritics; Experimental, Theoretical, or Observational Astrophysics; Planetary Science; Particle and Nuclear Physics, Cosmology and Gravitation; and Earth as a Planet. In their application materials, the candidate should describe their research interests and list potential collaborators from among the faculty fellows of the MCSS.
Please share this opportunity with your research contacts and encourage qualified candidates to apply by December 20, 2025.
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Faculty Mentoring Workshop
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The Office of the Provost will host a daylong faculty mentoring intensive on Jan. 16, designed for WashU faculty who mentor graduate students and early-career researchers. The program, running 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. on the Danforth Campus, covers topics including effective communication, fostering independence, cultivating ethical behavior, and aligning expectations. Faculty from both the Danforth and Medical campuses are invited to register.
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Black Hole Accretion from the Inside Out
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Astrophysics & Space Sciences Seminar
Jason Dexter
Colorado University
TODAY, Friday, December 12
9:00am, Compton 241
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| St. Louis Astronomical Society December Meeting
Deana Weibel
Grand Valley State University
Friday, December 19
7:30pm, McDonnell 162
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Subscribe to the MCSS Messenger
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| McDonnell Center Contacts |
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Please send any contributions to alison@wustl.edu.
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