Nora Berrah MSc, PhD

Nora Berrah, MSc, Ph.D. is a Professor and Head of the Physics Department at the University of Connecticut. She received her Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Virginia in 1987, was a Postdoctoral Fellow (87-89), and an Assistant Physicist (89-91) at the Physics Division at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) before becoming an Assistant Professor at Western Michigan University (91). She became a full WMU Professor and Distinguished Faculty Scholar in 2000. Berrah was a visiting scholar at the Université d’Orsay, Paris, France, at the Fritz-Haber-Institute der Max Planck Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany, at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), at the PULSE Ultrafast Center, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC), and at the Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris VI, France. Her research interests are in experimental Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics for which she received the David. S. Shirley Award for “Outstanding Scientific Achievements” at the ALS, LBNL, a Humboldt Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, and a Chair d’Excellence from SOLEIL National Synchrotron Laboratory, France. Berrah is an APS Fellow and the recipient of the 2014 APS Davisson-Germer award.

Berrah served/serves on the AAAS Council Delegate in the Physics Section, the APS Nominating Committee, the APS Division of Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (DAMOP) Nominating Committee, the DAMOP Executive Committee twice, The Davisson-Germer Award Committee, the Committee of the Status of Women in Physics, the I. I. Rabi Prize Committee, the APS Committee on International Scientific Affairs, the Executive Committee Division of Laser Science, the National Research Council (CAMOS), the Executive Committee of the Division of Laser Science, the Executive Committee of the APS Topical Group on Few-Body Physics, the Forum on International Physics, and she serves on various review committees for NSF and DoE office of science. She also serves/served on Science Advisory Committees for DoE-BES, for National Research Facilities, and for Users Committees of ALS/LBNL, SSRL/SLAC, and LCLS/SLAC. She serves on European Union Networks for Research and Innovations, on several International Research Review Committees, and National and International conference Program Committees and she co-chaired the International Conference on Photonic, Electronic and Atomic Collisions, ICPEAC XXVI.

Berrah’s research career focuses on the study of the interaction of atoms, molecules, and clusters with weak and strong electromagnetic fields produced by various light sources. Her recent research interests are in the areas of non-linear physics, quantum control, and time-resolved studies of molecules including long and short-wavelength radiation, ultrafast time scales, and strong laser fields. Her current research involves the use of intense femtosecond table-top lasers and free electron lasers (FELs) in the UV and x-ray regimes to probe physical and chemical processes that happen on femtosecond time scales. She will be focusing in the near future on investigating attosecond electron dynamics in molecules using non-linear multidimensional methodologies to probe and control the motion of electrons within molecules and determine how those dynamics influence the earliest stages of photo-induced molecular physics.