Gintaras K. Duda, BS, PhD

Gintaras K. Duda, BS, PhD

Gintaras K. Duda, BS, PhD

Professor
College of Arts and Sciences

Academic Appointments

Department

  • Physics

Position

  • Professor

Teaching Activity

  • I teach courses at all levels, from Magis core classes for non-science students to courses for physics graduate students. All of my courses employ deliberate active engagement strategies and tend to be non-traditional.

Biography

Gintaras Duda is professor and chair of physics at Creighton University. Trained as a particle theorist, his primary disciplinary research interest is the problem of dark matter: composition, detection, and fundamental theories/origins. In addition to astro-particle physics/cosmology, he is also involved heavily in physics education research, particularly in the areas of problem/project-based learning, evolution of student epistemologies, and studying the effects of attitude on student learning. He served as the co-director of the International Institute for SoTL Scholars and Mentors (IISSAM) in 2011 and the 2010 National CASTL Institute. He has been actively involved in assessment and faculty development at Creighton, having serving four years as a faculty associate in the Office for Academic Excellence and Assessment, and currently sits on both the university and college-level assessment committees. Gintaras has received numerous teaching awards, including a Creighton College of Arts and Sciences award for excellence in teaching in 2010, and the Creighton University Distinguished Educator in Teaching as Scholarship in 2014. He was named the 2013 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Outstanding Master’s Universities and Colleges National Professor of the Year.

Publications and Presentations

Articles

  • , 2 (2), 39-52
  • , 11, 110-127
  • , 46 (6), 42-45
  • , 2011, 22 pages
  • , 14413, 183-186
  • , 4
  • , 76, 1054-1065
  • , 173, 68-71
  • , 04, 012-036
  • , 49, 139-142
  • , 67, 023505(10)
  • , 64, 122001(10)
  • , 56, 2447-2456

Presentations

Research and Scholarship

Research and Scholarship Interests

  • My primary disciplinary research interest is the problem of dark matter: composition, detection, and fundamental theories/origins. In addition to astro-particle physics/cosmology, I am also involved heavily in physics education research, particularly in the areas of problem/project-based learning, evolution of student epistemologies, and studying the effects of attitude on student learning.

Current Research Projects

  • Use of supernova data to test hypotheses on the possible time variation of the gravitation constant G; problem/project-based learning in physics; Ignatian pedagogy in science courses; science and religion.

Grant Funding Received

  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR Grant (Role-PI:): “Constraining the Dark Mat- ter Velocity Distribution Function Using Direct Detection Data”, $2,000, (September 1, 2013 - May 31, 2014).
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR Grant (Role-PI:): “CoGeNT vs. Xenon 100 A 21st Century Scientific Controversy and New Theories for Light Dark Matter”, $8,858 + internal matching, (September 1, 2012 - May 31, 2013).
  • NASA Summer of Innovation (SOI) Outreach Grant (Role-PI): $2500, (May 1, 2012 - December 1, 2012).
  • NSF Course Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Grant (Role: co-PI): “Rebuilding the Astronomy Curriculum around Robotic Telescope Observations and Active Learning Exercises”, $199,307 (August 15, 2010 - July 31, 2013).
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR - Research Mini-Grant (Role: PI): “Homing in on Dark Matter: Following up leads from Direct and Indirect Detection, $11,073 + internal matching, (September 1, 2010 - May 31, 2011).
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR - Mini-Grant (Role: PI): “Extra Dimensional Dark Matter and the 2009 CDMIS II Results/Dark Matter Annihilations and the Observed Position Excess from Fermi and PAMELA, $16,000 + internal matching (August 1, 2010 - March 31, 2011).
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR - Research Seed Grant (Role: PI): “Indirect Detection of Dark Matter in Non-Standard Cosmologies”, $13,630 + internal matching (January 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010).
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium/EPSCoR - Research Seed Grant (Role: PI): “Indirect Detection of Dark Matter in Non-Standard Cosmologies”, $7,630 + internal matching (January 2008 - August 2009)
  • NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium - Research Seed Grant (Role: PI): “Prompt Muon and Neutrino Flux from High Energy Cosmic Ray Showers and Backgrounds at Neutrino Telescopes”, $5,500 + internal matching (November 2006 - August 2007)
  • AEA Development Grants for the Assessment of Student Learning/Scholarship of Teaching and Learning : “Ignatian Reflective Exercises in Natural Science Courses” w/ Soochin Cho, $2000 (Jan- uary 1, 2014 - October 31, 2014).
  • 2011 President’s Faculty Research Fund Grant : “Ignatian Pedagogy Actualized through Problem/Project- Based Learning within Physics Courses”, $5000 (Summer 2012).
  • AEA Development Grants for the Assessment of Student Learning/Scholarship of Teaching and Learning : “Problem/Project-Based Learning in Upper Division Physics Courses: New Pedagogies and Student Learning and Epistemologies”, $1500 (January 1, 2012 - October 31, 2012).
  • Faculty Development Award, Summer 2009: “Re-Envisioning Quantum Mechanics through Problem Based and Collaborative Learning”, $4500 (Summer 2009).
  • AEA Development Grants for the Assessment of Student Learning/Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: “Using National Standardized Conceptual Exams to Assess and Reform Introductory Physics”, $2000 (Summer 2009).
  • D.O.I.T. Pipeline to Innovation Grant (Role: PI) “Problem Based Learning in Upper Division Funded Internal Grants Physics Courses using Video Analysis and Mathematical Modeling Software”, $2,775 (Spring 2008).
  • Creighton University Summer Faculty Research Fellowship: “Nuclear Form Factors and Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments”, $4,300 (Summer 2007).
  • A. F. Jacobson Chair Technology Grant: “Podcasting and Physics”, $150 (June, 2007)
  • Creighton University Summer Faculty Research Fellowship: “Prompt Muon and Neutrino Flux from High Energy Cosmic Ray Showers and Backgrounds at Neutrino Telescopes”, $4,300 (Summer 2005).
  • Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Creighton University Small Grant Award: $2,500 (August 2004 - May 2005).