May 8, 2011

In Physics, Scotland's Unified Field of Research Draws Global Interest

Scotland's Unified Field of Physics Research Draws Global Interest 1

Richard Scott for The Chronicle

Erik Gerwick, from Oregon's Lewis & Clark College, works toward a Ph.D. in particle physics at the U. of Edinburgh. The program there helps him broaden his skills in entrepreneurship, among other skills useful to an aspiring scientist.

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close Scotland's Unified Field of Physics Research Draws Global Interest 1

Richard Scott for The Chronicle

Erik Gerwick, from Oregon's Lewis & Clark College, works toward a Ph.D. in particle physics at the U. of Edinburgh. The program there helps him broaden his skills in entrepreneurship, among other skills useful to an aspiring scientist.

By David L. Wheeler

As a teenager in Oregon, Erik Gerwick read Stephen Hawking's book on theoretical physics, The Universe in a Nutshell. It made him realize that he wanted to create new ideas, not just expand old ones.

This ambition has now taken Mr. Gerwick, who graduated with honors from Lewis & Clark College, to a place not widely known as a physics hotbed: Scotland. Yet he is happily at the University of Edinburgh, pursuing high-risk, high-reward particle-physics research as he works