WVU is a comprehensive land grant university and WVU’s Carnegie Classification is R1 (“Doctoral Universities - Very High Research Activity”). Morgantown is centrally located and regularly makes “Best Place to Live” lists because of its good schools, excellent health care, low unemployment rate, low crime rate, and abundant recreational opportunities. WVU provides faculty members with a supportive environment for developing a visible and productive career (https://talentandculture.wvu.edu/new-employees) and commits to assist in partner employment.
As a graduate student in the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy, Barbhuiya performed
groundbreaking research that will have an impact on the study of superheated gases
called plasmas that arise in the regions of space near Earth and in the atmosphere
of the Sun.
One of the most significant opportunities afforded to young scientists as an undergraduate student is the experience of hands-on research and creative exploration.
The GREENBURST research team, which has been operating for the past five years,
has just received funding to extend its quest to search for transient radio sources
using the Green Bank Telescope in Green Bank, West Virginia. With support from
a three-year $580,000 award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the team
aims to discover and study fast radio bursts (FRBs) and ultra-long period pulsars.
Summer 2024 was a whirlwind of activity for the Department of Physics and Astronomy!
Our community of students, staff, and faculty embarked on domestic and international
journeys to expand their knowledge, conduct groundbreaking research, and share
their discoveries. Additionally, we hosted various camps and programs on campus
and at partner sites. Here’s a glimpse at a few highlights from our exciting
summer!
Extreme solar flares and a geomagnetic storm hit Earth on May 10-11, 2024 disrupting Earth’s magnetosphere and resulted in various disruptions including certain GPS functionalities. It also provided us with a stunning arrangement of colorful aurorae across the globe. This geomagnetic storm was the most powerful storm on record since 1989.
GEM, supported by the National Science Foundation, is one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of space physics. Approximately 125 space physics students from around the world participated in the poster competition.
Prof. Jason E. Ybarra, Teaching Assistant Professor in the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the WVU Planetarium and Observatory, recently visited the Drepung Loseling Monastery in Karnataka, India, to present the research being done in the WVU Department of Physics and Astronomy and the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) Collaboration on the detection of low-frequency gravitational waves.
Lorimer and McLaughlin, internationally renowned astrophysicists and professors
in physics and astronomy in the Eberly College Department of Physics and Astronomy, are also recipients of the 2023 Shaw Prize,
the ‘Nobel of the East.’
