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UofT Physics Member wins 2013 Polanyi Prize

J. Patrick Clancy is one of the two UofT winners of the esteemed Polanyi Prize in 2013.
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Two University of Toronto researchers, J. Patrick Clancy and David Francis Taylor , have won esteemed Polanyi Prizes – Clancy for his research into quantum materials and Taylor for his work examining the role of political cartoons in the 1700s.

Created to celebrate U of T professor John Polanyi ’s 1986 Nobel Prize win, with funding from the Government of Ontario, the annual $20,000 awards mirror the diverse categories of the Nobel Prizes.

“As some of the most prestigious awards in Ontario, the Polanyi Prizes have an incredible impact on the research they support,” said Max Blouw, chair of the Council of Ontario Universities and president of Wilfrid Laurier University.

Dr. J. Patrick Clancy is a postdoctoral fellow in the University of Toronto's physics department. His research involves the study of novel quantum materials using advanced x-ray and neutron scattering techniques. He has published articles on a variety of topics, including low-dimensional magnetism, geometric frustration, and high temperature superconductivity. Dr. Clancy's present work focuses on exploring the physics of iridium-based quantum materials in order to develop a better understanding of the unconventional electronic and magnetic properties that arise in heavy 5d transition metal oxides.

“One of the major messages from our work is that there is still a lot of interesting physics to be discovered as you start to explore less common areas of the periodic table.  By understanding the unusual properties of these 5d transition metal oxides, we hope to move one step closer to harnessing these materials in the next generation of devices and technology.”

Dr. Clancy has been a member of the Physics Department since 2011, working in the research group of Professor Young-June Kim.

“It’s been a great couple of years, and I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to collaborate with so many excellent researchers, postdocs, graduate students, undergrads, and instrument scientists.  It's an interesting time to be studying condensed matter physics.”

This is the second consecutive year that the Polanyi Prize has been awarded to a member of the Department of Physics at U of T.  Last year’s winner was postdoctoral fellow Dr. Alex Hayat, for his work in Quantum Optics.

For more details on the Polanyi Prize see U of T News