Latest Happenings at the Oden Institute

A new PNAS study led by Oden Institute researchers reveals that polarons in crystalline materials can carry stable, symmetry-protected swirling atomic patterns, uncovering hidden structure that reshapes how scientists understand charge and energy transport in technologies like solar cells, LEDs, and electronic devices.

While most engineers predict effects from causes, undergraduate and two-time Moncrief Intern Arushi Sadam is flipping the script: developing innovative methods to infer causes from effects.  

Antonios Alvertis joins The University of Texas at Austin in Spring 2026 as an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences and the Department of Physics. A theoretical physicist, Alvertis combines high-performance computing and quantum computing to study quantum materials at the atomic scale, with applications ranging from superconductors to energy-efficient devices.