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The Bard Physics Program is dedicated to helping students at all levels gain a better understanding of the universe and how it works.
Fiona (second from the left) and Fonsea (right) accept their prizes for the poster they presented in the conference.
Bard Students Win Poster Prizes at the American Physical Society Conference in Albany
Congratulations to our own undergraduate students Fiona Boutelle and Fonsea Bagchi who took 1st and 3rd prize respectively in the undergraduate poster competition!
Fiona's Research Poster
News from the Physics Program
Paul Cadden-Zimansky and Bard Students Presented Research at Global Physics Summit
Kostikas and Valchyshen each gave talks on their Bard Summer Research Institute work, and Cadden-Zimansky was awarded the APS “5 Sigma Physicist Honor” for outstanding volunteer advocacy work in physics.
Paul Cadden-Zimansky and Bard Students Presented Research at Global Physics Summit
L–R:  Paul Cadden-Zimansky, Thanasis Kostikas ’26, and Yaroslav Valchyshen ’27 at the Global Physics Summit.
Last week, Paul Cadden-Zimansky, associate professor of physics at Bard College, and Bard students Thanasis Kostikas ’26 and Yaroslav Valchyshen ’27 attended the Global Physics Summit in Denver hosted by the American Physical Society (APS), one of of the largest societies of physicists in the world. At the conference, Kostikas and Valchyshen each gave talks on their Bard Summer Research Institute work on visualizations of quantum states, which were supported by the Bard Office of Undergraduate Research. Kostikas presented  “Geometrical Mapping of Algebraic Representations of Qudits,” and Valchyshen presented  “Interactive 2D and 3D Tools for Understanding Qudit State Geometry.”
Additionally, Cadden-Zimansky was awarded the APS “5 Sigma Physicist Honor” for outstanding volunteer advocacy work in physics. The award was created to recognize exceptional advocacy of APS members who go above and beyond to advance issues that are important to the physics community. Cadden-Zimansky was honored for supporting the global event coordination, social media content, and public communication efforts for the International Year of Quantum, as well as his work in volunteering to help middle and high school teachers develop ready-to-use, age-appropriate quantum science lessons during a daylong teacher professional development event at the Global Physics Summit.
The
Bard Physics Program
is dedicated to helping students at all levels gain a better understanding of the universe and how it works.
Post Date:
03-24-2026
Bard College Awarded Department of Energy Grant for Quantum Computation Research Project
The grant will support a project led by Abhinav Prem, assistant professor of physics.
Bard College Awarded Department of Energy Grant for Quantum Computation Research Project
Abhinav Prem, assistant professor of physics.
Bard College Assistant Professor of Physics Abhinav Prem has received a two-year research award from the US Department of Energy to develop new methods that make quantum computers more stable and reliable. The project, “Leveraging Novel Symmetries for Noise-Resilient Topological Quantum Computation,” is a joint collaboration with professor Stephan Haas at the University of Southern California (USC) and was funded under the DOE EXPRESS 2025 program. Bard is the lead institution and recipient of $300,006 of the $500,000 award.
Quantum computers promise dramatic speedups for problems like materials design, drug discovery, and complex climate modeling. But unlike conventional computers, quantum bits — or qubits — are extremely sensitive to their surroundings. Small disturbances such as heat, vibrations, or stray fields can flip or erase quantum information, causing errors that quickly cascade and wreck a computation.
Instead of trying to stop every disturbance, professor Prem uses a different strategy: build “tracks” that guide errors into predictable paths where they can be caught and corrected. These tracks come from mathematical structures called symmetries and from exotic states of matter known as topological phases. By designing systems where errors are forced to behave in regular, controllable ways, this research program aims to create quantum memories and operations that are naturally resilient, reducing the overhead for constant external correction.
“Think of an error as a runaway train,” Prem explains. “If the train can go anywhere, it will crash. Our project is about building the tracks that force those errors to move along very specific, predictable pathways. By constraining how errors propagate, we can effectively 'catch' and correct them before the train goes off the rails. This approach could lead to scalable quantum devices that are inherently resilient to inevitable environmental noise."
The two-year project will combine theoretical work with practical protocols aimed at near-term quantum devices, and will support one postdoctoral researcher each at Bard and USC.
Post Date:
01-21-2026
Article by Astrophysicist Clara Sousa-Silva Featured in the
New York Times
Detecting the phosphine molecule in places that cannot sustain life “will be a critical piece of the puzzle for figuring out what business phosphine has anywhere else, including in a potentially habitable environment.”
Article by Astrophysicist Clara Sousa-Silva Featured in the
New York Times
Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard, holding a model of the molecule phosphine. Photo by Greta Rybus
Clara Sousa-Silva, assistant professor of physics at Bard College, was interviewed in the
New York Times
about an article she coauthored in the
Science
journal. The article explains how the detection of the molecule phosphine in the atmosphere of a brown dwarf—a class of celestial objects too large to be considered a gas giant planet but not massive enough to fuse hydrogen like a star—may help astronomers in their search for life elsewhere in the Milky Way. On Earth, phosphine is a molecule that is produced by living things, and because life as we know it is unsustainable on a brown dwarf, the finding can help refine our understanding of how the molecule could be produced under other circumstances. Detecting the phosphine molecule in places that cannot sustain life “will be a critical piece of the puzzle for figuring out what business phosphine has anywhere else, including in a potentially habitable environment,” Sousa-Silva told the
New York Times
The
Bard Physics Program
is dedicated to helping students at all levels gain a better understanding of the universe and how it works.
Read the research article in
Science
Read more in the
New York Times
Post Date:
10-14-2025
Physics Students Present Poster in Gravitational-wave Conference in Louisiana
Prottoy Samir and Emma Derrick attended the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra March 2024 Conference in Louisiana, where they presented their work on optical coating studies. The poster was titled "Surface and Defect Characterization of a Ta2O5-separated GeTiOx/SiO2 coating vs Annealing". The conference is an opportunity to explore new areas of research in optics, connect with colleagues and students that do similar research, and experience a scientific conference.
We are also thrilled that Emma's dedication to research was recognized in 2024 with the highly prestigious
Goldwater Foundation Scholarship
award!
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Listen to our students discuss their research, collaborations with faculty, and interdisciplinary study at Bard.
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Discover Physics at Bard
Antonios Kontos, Director
Physics Program
Bard College | PO Box 5000
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
[email protected]