Ten CSU Students Attend 2025 Sigma Pi Sigma Physics and Astronomy Congress

Late October 2025 a CSU delegation of ten students, together with Dr. Kiril Streletzky, attended for three days the 18th Physics and Astronomy Congress in Denver, CO. The Congress is the world’s largest tri-annual conference for undergraduates interested in physics and astronomy. Every three years, the Congress brings together thousands of physics and astronomy undergraduates from hundreds of institutions – a CSU delegation has attended each Congress since 2016. The Congress is organized by the Sigma Pi Sigma (SPS) Physics Honors Society together with the Society of Physics Students (SPS) and sponsored by the American Institute of Physics (AIP). Themed “Σupporting our Πhase Σhifts” 2025 Congress had a goal to help physics and astronomy students to shift into the next phase of their career, independent of what that is.  The event brought more than 1000 undergraduates, some alumni and faculty, and established scientists and leaders in physics and astronomy for three days of exciting physics, professional development and career guidance workshops, student research presentations, interaction with renowned scientists and Nobel Laureates, tours of physics research centers in Denver metro area, networking, Halloween costume contest and the famous physics dance party. 

This year’s CSU delegation included nine undergraduates (P. Barrett, J. Ball, M. A. de la Cruz Ortiz, J. Gliha, J. Hoeflich, C. Lathwell, J. McRaven, J. Riley, N. Taylor) and one graduate student (J. Taton). The delegation was also joined by two non-CSU students, alumni of our department’s Soft Matter REU, A. Joyce (St. Vincent College) and A. Horovka (College of Wooster). Unfortunately, due to the government shutdown some of the planned research tours (NIST-Boulder and NREL) were canceled. As a result seven CSU students went for a tour of Colorado School of Mines (CSM), that included: a) a real gold mine (Edgar Mine) with underground classrooms, Mines Rescue area, Refuge Chamber, and CURIE lab, which studies qubits/quantum technologies (pictures above), b) Mines Museum of Earth Science, c) talks on Quantum Research at CSM, d) meeting Blaster the Burro – CSM mascot (picture above). Two students went to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre to explore physics of sound (pictures below); one student visited the campus of Lockheed Martin’s space program seeing the main mission control area and learning about Artemis missions (no pictures were allowed).  

At the Congress students listened to five plenaries with outstanding speakers (Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Eric Cornell, Sara Horst, Donnel Walton, Juliane Polard-Larkin), participated in several workshops (e.g. Resume Clinic, National Lab Panel, Careers in Sustainability, Climate Physics, Science Communication, Physics for Humans, Unapologetically Being) and attended the graduate school fair.

Throughout the Congress, CSU students had many wonderful opportunities to interact and network with physicists and astronomers. These opportunities came during the tours, after each of the plenary talks, during a planned lunch with a scientist, and just by running into a friendly physicist.     

That is how CSU students and REU alumni shared a lunch with Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell (Irish physicist, the discoverer of radio pulsars, and plenary speaker of the Congress). At this special CSU lunch each student had a chance to talk with Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell!

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