{"id":466378,"date":"2026-10-15T03:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T03:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466378\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T03:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T03:12:14","slug":"ut-physics-professor-wins-quantum-research-grant-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/466378\/","title":{"rendered":"UT physics professor wins quantum research grant \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An associate professor of physics, was one of 21 scientists nationwide to receive $1.35 million over five years from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to pursue high-risk physics experiments, according to an Oct. 1 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.moore.org\/article-detail?newsUrlName=room-to-take-risks-2026-experimental-physics-investigators\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">news release<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The professor, Jia Li, will study a system that pairs free electrons floating on the surface of liquid helium with one-atom thick two-dimensional materials. A spokesperson from the College of Natural Sciences wrote in a statement that Li\u2019s research could impact future technologies.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis research has the power to shape everything from advances in our technologies to how much energy our devices consume,\u201d the spokesperson wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Li said this new hybrid system will improve quantum research, or research into the smallest possible units of matter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(The new system) is something that nobody has ever tried before,\u201d Li said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>His work focuses on quantum mechanics, an essential foundation to quantum computation, which could help build faster, more capable computers in the future. The system is effective, Li said, because electrons on liquid helium can hold information for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re close to knocking on the door of the next generation of computation,\u201d Li said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pablo Laguna, chair of the physics department, wrote in a statement the award reflects the growing strength of quantum physics research at UT.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a tremendous achievement for Leo and a moment of celebration for our entire department,\u201d Laguna wrote.<\/p>\n<p>Li said this was his third attempt at the award. The idea he submitted that ultimately received an award was one that he had always considered too risky.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Theodore Hodapp, program director for the foundation\u2019s Experimental Physics Investigators Initiative, said in the news release that the program gives scientists more flexible support than federal grants usually can.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat freedom lets them take on risky, high-reward experiments and follow ideas when research results lead them down new pathways,\u201d Hodapp said in the news release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Li said he hopes to see undergraduate students join the project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI fully anticipate that at some point an undergrad student will approach me and say, \u2018Let\u2019s try to do this together,\u2019\u201d Li said. \u201cI\u2019m waiting for that moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An associate professor of physics, was one of 21 scientists nationwide to receive $1.35 million over five years&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466379,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-466378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}