A Collaborative National Center for Fusion & Plasma Research

Science literacy

Having the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes necessary to make informed decisions on scientific issues.

The physics of ice cream helps inspire students at PPPL’s STEM Day

More than 35 students from Orange in the north and Moorestown in the south came to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in central New Jersey in early March for a day of science fun that included ice cream made with cryogenics, cool plasma demos, and a hands-on workshop in which they made motors.

The activities were all part of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Day at the Lab on March 2 and they had a serious aim: engaging students in science and technology and hopefully pointing the way to future careers.

West Windsor-Plainsboro South wins U.S. Department of Energy’s N.J. Regional High School Science Bowl at PPPL for third consecutive year

Two Princeton-area teams will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Science Bowl^® finals after winning the regional middle school and high school competitions at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) New Jersey Science Bowl^® at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) Feb. 24 to 25.

PPPL astrophysicist Matthew Kunz named a 2017 Sloan Research Fellow

Matthew Kunz, a physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and an assistant professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, has been named a 2017 Sloan Research Fellow. The two-year, $60,000 fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation recognizes early career scientists of outstanding promise who have been nominated by their colleagues. Kunz, who studies the detailed plasma physics of space and astrophysical systems, was among 126 researchers, including six Princeton University faculty members, to receive a 2017 Sloan fellowship.

A contest of the minds at N.J. Regional Science Bowl

Teams of middle school and high school students from as far away as Delaware and New York will come to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) Feb. 24 to Feb. 25 to compete in a battle of the minds in 12 fierce rounds of competition answering challenging math, science and technology questions at the DOE’s New Jersey Regional Science Bowl^®, 100 Stellarator Road, Princeton, New Jersey.

Assembly and Actuation of Magnetic Polymers and Membranes by Precessing Magnetic Fields

Abstract: Magnetic colloids are used in drug delivery, tissue scaffolding, image contrast, and tumor reduction applications as well as self-healing membranes. Flexible magnetic filaments can be synthesized by joining superparamagnetic beads with elastic linkers, giving rise to interesting phenomena due to the combinations of their elastic and magnetic properties, which have found diverse applications, such as micro-mechanical sensors and self-propelled swimmers.

A “fresh perspective” on cancer research in Science on Saturday lecture

Cancer research should focus on the “fundamentals of the origins” of mutating and rapidly reproducing cancer cells that make the disease so difficult to treat. So said Princeton University physicist Robert Austin at the Jan. 28 Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday lecture series at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL).

Conference gives undergraduate women skills, inspiration to pursue physics careers

Meg Urry was the first tenured woman professor in the Physics Department at Yale University and was often the only woman in her physics classes, including her graduate class at MIT, but she still heard a fellow student complain that women were unfairly given advantages over their male colleagues. “That’s when I realized there was something fishy going on,” she said.

COLLOQUIUM: Princeton Campus Development 1756 – 2017

We will explore the growth and development of Princeton’s campus over time, as well as the impacts that various planning trends had on the built environment. We will discuss a variety of styles, aspirations, and cultural traditions that are represented on campus. Plus, numerous historic renderings and photographs will help illustrate the campus and surrounding areas through the years.

Entrepreneurship to Spaceship

Gregory Olsen, Ph.D is president of GHO Ventures in Princeton, NJ where he manages his “angel” investments. Dr. Olsen discusses his experiences in starting and selling two start-up businesses. He founded EPITAXX, a fiber-optic detector manufacturer in 1984 together with Vladimir Ban. It was sold in 1990 for $12 million. He then founded Sensors Unlimited, a near-infrared camera manufacturer in 1992 with Marshall Cohen. Sensors was sold to Finisar Corp. for $600 million in 2000, repurchased by the management team in 2002 for $6 million, and then sold again to Goodrich, Corp.

PPPL’s Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday Lecture Series kicks off Jan. 14 with a banquet of cutting-edge science

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) will once again offer a wide variety of cutting-edge science talks as it kicks off its popular Ronald E. Hatcher Science on Saturday Lecture Series for high school students and science lovers of all ages on Saturday, Jan. 14, at 9:30 a.m. at the Laboratory, 100 Stellarator Road, Princeton, New Jersey.