Professor Deborah Jin won the William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement. (Courtesy of CU Photo Database)
Now there’s another reason for CU to boast about its science program.
Deborah Jin, a researcher at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics and a physics professor at CU, through her work with ultra-cold gases and superconductors, has recently won the William Procter Prize for Scientific Achievement.
Jin said the win came as a great surprise.
“I was delighted,” Jin said. “I had no idea I was nominated.”
The Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society annually awards the prize to a scientist who has made a noteworthy contribution to scientific research as well as being someone who has demonstrated an ability to communicate the significance of this research to scientists in other disciplines, according to the Society’s Web site. The award ceremony was going to be held Nov. 12 – 15 in Houston, but Jin was unable to attend due to a family emergency.
While the work done by Jin and her colleges at JILA is still at a basic stage, she said she hopes that it will lead to developing superconductors with the ability to work at room temperature.
“What is fundamental is the knowledge to figure out how things work, that’s why we picked this system, so we can advance what we know about quantum physics and have it be technologically relevant,” Jin said. “I hesitate to say that is the goal because there are much more direct ways to build up basic understanding that can help when approaching superconductors.”
Along with the trophy and recognition, Jin will receive $5,000 and an additional $5,000 for research to be given to a young researcher of her choosing. Jin decided to award the grant to a first-year graduate physics doctoral candidate Adam Kaufman, who works in a different research group at JILA.
“Because he is a first-year student rather than a senior student and because he is also working for new faculty members in physics,” Jin said of the decision to award the prize to Kaufman, adding that “[The grant] might have a bigger impact than just going to my program.”
Professor Jun Ye, a JILA member colleague of Jin’s, said he agrees with Sigma Xi’s decision.
“I think she is well deserved for recognition,” Ye said. “I have a lot of respect for her and feel very happy for her.”
Jin said researching at CU and working with other researchers, like Ye, has played an important role in her research.
“CU through JILA allows me to operate in the university setting with students, which is very important for doing research,” Jin said. “The students bring a lot of hard work and creativity and energy into JILA. It’s a unique place because it’s on the CU campus and it has a connection to NIST and has a bunch of wonderful colleagues.”
Jin said that the new recognition has begun to open new doors for her, as she has already received guest-speaker invitations.
Some students on campus also feel the recognition is important for morale on campus.
One of those students is Andrew Dean, a 21-year-old junior civil engineering major.
“It’s cool sometimes to know that your professors do real things and that what you learn does apply somewhere in the world,” Dean said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rose Heaphy at Josephine.heaphy@colorado.edu.
