Former JILA PhD student Tobias Bothwell (top) and former JILA postdoc Colin Kennedy (bottom) are both honored by NIST's Physical Measurement Laboratory
Former JILA Ph.D. student Tobias Bothwell and former JILA postdoctoral researcher Colin Kennedy have been honored by NIST's (the National Institute of Standards and Technology) Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML) with the 2022 Distinguished Associate Awards. Both Bothwell and Kennedy are honored with a gold medal for this award, and were cited for "the most precise measurement of the gravitational redshift using optical atomic clocks, further confirming Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.” As the two researchers worked in the laboratory of JILA and NIST Fellow Jun Ye, they focused on atomic clock physics, helping to push the boundaries of precision measurement. Congratulations!
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.