Physics at UT
Arlington:
Approaching
Tier 1 Stature
Presented to President
and ProvostFebruary 16, 2006
UT Arlington Physics Directions
Build Premier, Tier-1 level Physics Department
Create World-Class Planetarium—Science
Education, Public Outreach, Major DFW
Attraction
New Nano-Bio Physics Initiative
Internationally-Recognized Stature in Four
Focus Areas
Establish Endowed Chair in Physics
Acquire Emerging Technologies Fund Group
I. Overview of Physics Department
• $2.1 M research expenditures FY05
• $9 M in multi-year awards CY 2005
• $2.2M operating budget
• 18 regular faculty, one lecturer
• Numerous laboratories
and computational facilities,
plus machine shop
2. Tier I Research Growth Plan
Expenditures and Indirect
Generated
 Current Focus Areas
- High-Energy Physics
- Nanomaterials
- Astrophysics/Space Physics
 Funding
-NSF, DOE, NASA, DARPA,
ONR, Air Force, Welch
- 31 % of COS FY05 Indirect
 5-year goals
– Double external funding
level
– 50% increase in Ph.D.
production
– New Initiative in Nano-bio
Physics
– Endowed Chair, ETF Group
In Millions
Indirect Generated Expenditures
$2.5
$2.0
$1.5
$1.0
$0.5
$2001-02
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
Faculty Hiring Plan
 5-year plan
Seven new hires in four focus
areas, particularly Nanobiophysics
 Complement throughout with
soft money PIs
Add several self-sufficient
principal investigators/
research faculty
Actual Proposed
Number of Faculy
 10-year plan
Tier 1 Physics TT faculty
numbers (e.g., NC State U
Physics has 37 TT faculty)
through seven further hires as
dictated by developments
Tenured and Tenure Track Faculty in Physics
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Year
Focus Area 1 – High-Energy Physics
 Extensive international collaboration and recognition,
high external funding, Tier-1 quality faculty --cf. WAG
report
 New international supercomputing analysis center for
CERN Large Hadron Collider ATLAS experiment –
only such center in Southwest Region
External Funds Generated by HEP Group
Provost' support
Total grants received
$1,600,000
$1,400,000
$1,200,000
$1,000,000
$800,000
$600,000
$400,000
$200,000
$0
FY97
FY98
FY99
FY00
FY01
FY02
FY03
FY04
FY05
Focus Area 2 – Nanomaterials
 Develop Tier-1 Nanomaterials Research
Groups and Facilities
– Internationally recognized in nanomagnetism, positron physics, structure
of actinides, fullerenes, photonic
materials
– Extensive funding, including multimillion dollar, multi-year DARPA and
(2005 ) MURI grant awards for nanostructured magnetic materials
– Prominently featured in WAG report,
Presidential State of the Union address
– Industrial applications
– UTD/UNT investing heavily
– New facilities, such as TEM,
needed to attain Tier-1 stature
Focus Area 3 –Astrophysics and Space Physics
Build Tier 1 astrophysics and space
physics program
– Internationally-recognized astrophysics
and space physics research programs
– Support of new Planetarium activities,
including NASA-funded outreach
initiatives
– Highly popular courses in Introductory
Astronomy, Astrobiology, etc.,
serving wide variety of
UT Arlington students
– Extensive funding from NASA
and NSF
New Focus Area 4 –Nano-Bio Physics
 Develop high-quality thrust in nano-bio physics
– Link to UT Arlington bio-science/ engineering
– Search participation by Advisory Committee
comprised of UTSWMC, UT Arlington bio-related
faculty
– NIH funding opportunities
– High student interest in
biophysics and medical
physics.
– Collaboration with
UT Southwestern
3. Recent Accomplishments
 5-year $3 Million NSF/DOE grant for
Southwest Grid Farm analysis center for
2007 CERN ATLAS Large Hadron Collider
Experiment
 5-year, $5 Million MURI grant on Synthesis
of Nanocomposite Magnets
 R. Bonadurer from Minnesota Planetarium
becomes Director of Planetarium at UT
Arlington
 Assistant Professor Dr. Yi-Jiun Su, Space
Physics, joins with new $ 366,000 NASA
grant on Jovian aurora, wins $440,000 NSF
CAREER Grant on Earth’s aurora