OYRA AwardThe Award Committee thoroughly reviewed all documentation submitted for its consideration in support of the candidates. The committee also conducted its work through numerous discussions by telephone and email. The successful OYRA candidates would especially demonstrate their potential for: (1) creative, substantive advance in their own subfield in physics; (2) a professional success as a physicist. After exhaustive and careful discussions, the committee recommends Dr. Yong-Yeol Ahn, an assistant professor at Indiana University and Dr. Na Young Kim, a research associate at Stanford University as the two 2012 OYRA winners:
Dr. Yong-Yeol Ahn:
 Dr. Ahn is a theorist in the field of statistical mechanics. He studies complex systems through the concept of networks. He investigates many interesting subjects including biological networks from interacting genes, proteins, and metabolites; a brain network from interacting neurons; and a social network from interacting people. His recent work was published in Nature and in Science. All his work is based on the concept of networks by exploiting the analytic and computational approach typically used in statistical mechanics, along with conventional phenomenological approaches. Dr. Ahn has a great promise with the potential not only to become a leading scientist of his generation, but also to create his own field of science. |
Dr. Na Young Kim:
 Dr. Kim is an experimentalist in the field of condensed matter physics. Her research area is mesoscopic electron transport and solid-state cavity quantum electrodynamics. She has made outstanding contributions to the study of novel properties of light-matter quasi-particles called exciton polaritons, along with their application to quantum information. Her recent work was published in Nature as a first and corresponding author. As her references stated, Dr. Kim’s strength is her intellectual power to focus on important problems and come up with creative solutions with her superb technical skills. The outstanding scientific performance and the character of Dr. Kim clearly point to this conclusion: She becomes an emerging leader in her field. |
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SOLICITATION OF NOMINEES FOR AKPA OYRA 2012
PURPOSE:
In order to recognize and promote excellence in research by outstanding young ethnic Korean physicists in North America, the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (OYRA) has been awarded annually by the Association of Korean Physicists in America (AKPA) since 1994 (see the list of previous recipients in the AKPA webpage).
QUALIFICATION:
Candidates are limited to young ethnic Korean physicists who are working at research universities/institutions or industrial/government laboratories in North America. At the time of nomination, each candidate should be within five years from completion of his/her Ph. D. dissertation. Exceptions to the five-year rule can be allowed for extenuating circumstances, such as military service or extended medical leave. In such cases, the interruption will not count toward the five-year rule.
NOMINATION:
Each candidate must be nominated by the Chair or Head of the department where they are employed or by the candidate's doctoral or postdoctoral advisor in a letter detailing the importance and impact of the candidate's work. Supporting documents should include the candidate's curriculum vitae with representative publications and three letters of recommendation. Nominations and supporting letters are to be sent electronically, preferably in PDF format, to the AKPA OYRA Committee at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the subject line “OYRA2012 for the candidate name” by the dates given below.
November 15, 2011 for nominations
December 15, 2011 for supporting documents
AWARD COMMITTEE:
Prof. Kyungseon Joo (U. Conn. & NSF), Chair
Prof. Kyungwha Park (Virginia Tech.)
Dr. Inseob Hahn (NASA JPL)
Dr. Hoydoo You (Argonne Nat. Lab)
PRESENTATION:
Two award winners will be selected by the OYRA Awards Committee. The Korean Physical Society will sponsor one of the two awards. The winners will be announced early in 2012. The award of $1,500 with a plaque will be presented at the AKPA annual meeting, which will be held in conjunction with an American Physical Society Meeting in the Spring. The exact location of the annual meeting and time will be announced later.
