Assistant professor in MSE at Northwestern 💎Materials Physicisthttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3mbtw6fyai22xTwo things can be true at once: 1. Personality tests are a pseudoscience. 2. At least two thirds of STEM professors are definitely INTJ.07 Jan 2026 16:46 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbtw6fyai22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3m7qvsxnddc25The AI-written LinkedIn slop of the day. 1) Wiedemann Franz law is empirical and even boring metals don't follow it exactly. 2) Graphene is not even a metal so why would it. My undergrad class, who only learned the modern theory of conductivity a few weeks ago, could explain why this is nonsense.12 Dec 2025 01:11 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7qvsxnddc25https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3m42bikmmlk2aWait, what? I know what these theories are. And still; what?25 Oct 2025 20:53 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m42bikmmlk2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3m2ws7elwp22fHydrogenic atom chocolate cookies with Legendre polynomial chocolate chips. I bake things for my undergrad class to give them energy when we have a particularly maths-heavy lecture. Photo taken yesterday *after* the ~18 or so of them took one each.11 Oct 2025 18:17 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2ws7elwp22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3m27jad6jz22fForbidden to-go drink02 Oct 2025 12:05 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3m27jad6jz22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lzz5obdfi22dWhen in a place with moderate hills, find a moderate hill and run up it. (beamtime 10k from a few weeks ago)29 Sep 2025 23:22 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzz5obdfi22dhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lzuodlehic2sPhysicist top tip: set your thermostat to make room temperature calculations easier to work out 👍28 Sep 2025 04:37 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzuodlehic2shttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lyus3l72l22pBeautiful RIXS study. Last author, Valentina Bisogni, will give an invited talk at our iWOE meeting in two weeks' time! (maybe not about this paper though... ) [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Sep 2025 12:19 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyus3l72l22phttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lykm3hyf2c27Today I taught my last class of summer. The students at the Cook County Jail were outstanding. The county jail has a bad reputation but the education program here is doing a lot of good work with people who really want to learn. If you're an educator in the Chicago area pls consider volunteering!11 Sep 2025 11:05 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lykm3hyf2c27https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lxueitcd5k2aToday begins year 2 of my tenure-track position. More senior colleagues have told me "don't worry, second year is so much better than first year". But honestly, the first year was wonderful, successful, and every day reaffirmed that I made the right career choice. Can second year be even better?02 Sep 2025 14:50 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lxueitcd5k2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lvrm5edcts2oBeautiful August evening at the only (?) top 10 University with a beach07 Aug 2025 01:39 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvrm5edcts2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3ltwzo4hmsc2sI guess my lab hot take is that tweezers shouldn't be consumables14 Jul 2025 18:34 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ltwzo4hmsc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lrxtybbt6k2cGotta resist that European urge to give my NSF Career proposal a snappy acronym... ERC Advanced Grants are announced, so here's my announcement of my favourite acronym. This year it's CATNIP: Citizen Attitudes Towards National and International Problems. Congrats to all awardees europa.eu/!JYKxkD https://europa.eu/!JYKxkD19 Jun 2025 15:34 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lrxtybbt6k2chttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lqbr5ei3t22bIt was recently Oliver's 11th birthday. So here he is enjoying sashimi (yellowfin and roe). I adopted him when he was a kitten, at the start of my PhD. Now he's lived with me in three countries and two US states. What will the next 11 years bring!29 May 2025 03:20 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lqbr5ei3t22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lppnizhs4s24From his Wikipedia "Von Ahn has used a number of unusual techniques in his teaching, which have won him multiple teaching awards at Carnegie Mellon University." I suspect he didn't just have the students at CMU sit in front of an AI 😐 [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 May 2025 22:27 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lppnizhs4s24https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lpg626mzf227This past week I got five free meals as part of work. Sometimes students ask me why I wanted to do this job. The truth is that I just kept getting free food. I've basically been domesticated by academia.18 May 2025 03:56 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpg626mzf227https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lp3s7varws2mI have the opposite experience. I am surprised at how smart students are, some of them are super sharp thinkers. I also definitely had some homework questions in Physics of Materials that ChatGPT could have answered but students clearly weren't using AI 'cause they were getting it wrong lol. [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 May 2025 00:58 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lp3s7varws2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3locpjr4vlc25Sample #00001 is grown!04 May 2025 01:33 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3locpjr4vlc25https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3llsdr5jt2c2pI recently had dinner with faculty from another University and they did nothing but complain about their undergrads. Even saying "if any apply to your grad program, don't take them". Meanwhile, a decent portion of our department's group chat is gushing about how awesome our undergrads are 🤷🏻‍♀️02 Apr 2025 02:30 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3llsdr5jt2c2phttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3ll6aqytkc22zToday I went to the McMaster-Carr main warehouse to pick up an order that couldn't wait. After years of ordering from their online catalog it felt like a pilgrimage to go there in person.25 Mar 2025 02:43 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ll6aqytkc22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lkz626yt7c2dJust learned my cryostat will be a few months late. But at least I got this USB-chargeable, LED-decorated, handheld fan from them to make up for it.23 Mar 2025 02:11 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lkz626yt7c2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3ljdxcfird22fThis just happened. If you know, you know. If you don't know, well, this image just means that my lab set up is progressing nicely!01 Mar 2025 22:19 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljdxcfird22fhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lihqjgbw2k2aIn 2017 a respected professor told me (a student, presenting a poster on engineering superconductivity in nickelates) "I can't believe you're still trying this, when are you going to give up!" [contains quote post or other embedded content]18 Feb 2025 17:03 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lihqjgbw2k2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lhulpgp6fc2yOne of the things keeping me busy lately: The International Workshop on Oxide Electronics goes to Canada for the first time! Stay tuned for the website, other information, and abstract submission. Coming soon!11 Feb 2025 02:16 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhulpgp6fc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lhjqixpxws2vFirst group outing to do pub trivia. On an unrelated note, I'll soon be advertising a position in the group for an expert on American sports.06 Feb 2025 18:43 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhjqixpxws2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lhcz22btpc2kNobody prepared me for how cool group meetings are. You mean I get to sit in a room of smart people, of my choosing, and ask them to tell me about any topic I like? Amazing.04 Feb 2025 02:27 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhcz22btpc2khttps://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3lf6chl3rwc27There's both a Philz and a Peet's in Evanston. 1) is Evanston the only town outside of the Bay Area with both? 2) does that make Coupa Cafe the true local coffee place in the Bay Area? Mildly interesting.07 Jan 2025 18:42 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3lf6chl3rwc27https://bsky.app/profile/jenf.bsky.social/post/3ldsefpczhs2jFrom moving in back in August to today. I don't even want to think about how many hours I've spent in this room but at least I made it comfortable. And yes that is the 4k Crackling Fireplace Birchwood edition up on the TV.21 Dec 2024 07:19 +0000at://did:plc:bcxsrcflktb3qsxxnikjjoc2/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldsefpczhs2j