K-State physics department to host 2017 KS-NE Symposium on 'Imaging and Controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanostructures'

By Sarah Hancock

The K-State physics department will host the symposium "Imaging and Controlling Ultrafast Dynamics of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanostructures" on Friday, March 31. The program features research supported by the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR, in Kansas and Nebraska, as well as speakers from other institutions. Space permitting, all talks are open to K-State students, faculty and staff.

After an 8:30 a.m. welcome by Beth Montelone, K-State senior associate vice president for research, Paul Corkum from the University of Ottawa and the National Research Council of Canada will offer a plenary talk, "Linking high harmonics from solids and gases." Then two sessions will feature back-to-back brief talks by eight researchers. A poster session will close the day. View a PDF of the full program.

The symposium is part of an NSF EPSCoR Track II grant from 2014 to support physics research in Kansas and Nebraska. Itzik Ben-Itzhak, university distinguished professor of physics and director of the J.R. Macdonald Laboratory for atomic, molecular and optical physics, was co-principal investigator and was awarded additional funds in 2016 to support undergraduate researchers and collaborations with small colleges. Ben-Itzhak said more than 60 faculty members, graduate students and postdocs from K-State's EPSCoR partners are registered to attend, plus another 20 from K-State.

"This is an important opportunity for K-State to host an impressive gathering of world-class leaders in ultrafast laser science," Ben-Itzhak said.

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