Jeffrey Montgomery, a graduate student in the UAB College of Arts and Sciences, is the first UAB student invited to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings in Germany. He is one of only 570 young researchers from 80 countries around the world chosen to attend the meetings that feature more than 25 Nobel Laureates.
“This is a chance to meet and speak with some of the greatest heroes in physics, chemistry and medicine over the last 50 years,” Montgomery said. “It is the chance of a lifetime, particularly with this year’s emphasis in physics.”
Montgomery’s research is in the area of high-pressure materials physics. His group, led by Yogesh Vohra, Ph.D., is interested in the properties of materials under extreme conditions as well as the synthesis of novel new materials at those pressures. They study the physical and electronic properties of rare-earth metals and iron-based superconductors at pressures of up to one million atmospheres, or one megabar, using a device for generating high pressures known as the diamond anvil cell.
“For my thesis research, I am utilizing a new method of growing electrically conducting single-crystal diamond to make a new type of designer diamond anvil which will be used to perform measurements of thermal properties of these materials,” said Montgomery. “I hope to compare these measurements with theoretical calculations of various properties while the materials undergo high-pressure magnetic phase transitions.”
The annual Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings, held every year since 1950, features discussions and seminars where young researchers interact with Noble Laureates. They are a globally recognized forum for the transfer of knowledge between generations of scientists.