Alan Heeger, who received the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, will speak at the opening of New York University’s Center for Soft Matter Research on Thurs., Nov. 3, 2-3:15 p.m. at NYU’s Meyer Hall (4 Washington Place [at Broadway], Room 121). A pioneer in the development of plastic semiconductors, Professor Heeger will speak on “Risk and Innovation in Science: From Einstein’s Photon to ‘Plastic’ Solar Cells.” Later, NYU researchers will give a tour of the new facility (4 Washington Place, 8th Floor, 3:30-5:30 p.m.) and run demonstrations to provide examples of the type of research that will be conducted.
NYU has put together a team of internationally recognized physicists to head its research initiative in soft condensed matter physics, a new interdisciplinary field that explores how nature organizes complex structure and function by studying the physical properties of such malleable materials as colloids and polymers, which form the basis for biological organisms. Knowledge of these basic organizing principles can then be exploited to create new systems, materials, and devices. The field draws on insights and expertise from biology, chemistry, and several branches of engineering, while remaining rooted in physics. NYU physicists Paul Chaikin, David Grier, and David Pine lead a team of researchers in establishing NYU’s Center for Soft Matter Research, which will officially open Nov. 3.
- WHO: Alan Heeger, Professor of Physics and of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2000 Nobel Laureate; NYU President John Sexton; Richard Foley, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, NYU; Peter Lennie, Dean for Science, NYU; David Grier, Chair, Department of Physics, NYU; David Pine, Director, Center for Soft Matter Research, NYU; Paul Chaikin, Professor of Physics, NYU
- WHAT: Presentation by Nobel Laureate Alan Heeger; tour of Center’s new research laboratories
- WHEN: Thurs., Nov. 3, 2-5:30 p.m.
- WHERE: NYU’s Meyer Hall (4 Washington Place [at Broadway], Room 121) [Subway Lines: A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street); N, R, W (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place)]
Reporters interested in attending the event should contact James Devitt, NYU’s Office of Public Affairs, at 212.998.6808 or james.devitt@nyu.edu. The public should contact Lorelei DeMesa at demesa@physics.nyu.edu or at 212-998-7711 for more information.