eQMA Distinguished Lecture – Fall 2026
Unconventional Superconductors: The Dark Energy of Quantum Materials
Speaker: Laura H. Greene, The National MagLab and Florida State University
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
4:00–5:00pm
Brockman 101
Reception to follow
Speaker Bio
Laura H Greene is the Chief Scientist of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) and the Marie Krafft Professor of Physics at Florida State University where she investigates electronic properties of strongly correlated quantum materials. She focuses on planar tunneling into unconventional superconductors, including high-temperature and heavy fermion superconductors, and topological materials.
She has held leadership roles in many scientific organizations including president of APS (theme of science diplomacy and human rights), AAAS Board of Directors, and is presently the Vice President for Ethics and Collegiality of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP). Laura is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK), the AAAS, and the APS. Other honors include a Guggenheim fellowship, the E.O. Lawrence Award from the DOE, the Oersted Medal from AAPT, the Five-Sigma Award for Science Advocacy to Advance Science Policy from APS, the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from APS, the Bellcore Award of Excellence, and the Tallahassee Scientific Society Gold Medal. She has co-authored over 200 publications and presented over 700 invited talks. She was appointed by President Joe Biden to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) where she served 2022-2025.
Abstract
Unconventional superconductors differ from conventional superconductors in that they typically exhibit intriguing, correlated electron phases that break the symmetry of the underlying lattice at temperatures well above their superconducting transition temperature. These non-Fermi liquid phases remain some of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. After an introduction to the MagLab and an overview of unconventional superconductivity, I will briefly present some of our planar tunneling spectroscopic studies revealing a possible new paring mechanism in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5.
