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Giles Novak

Professor, Faculty Director of Northwestern University Research Shop

PhD, University of Chicago, 1988

Professor Novak works in observational astrophysics and astronomical instrumentation. His research group is currently contributing to three instrumentation projects: called TolTEC, HAWC+, and BLAST. All three are aimed at key questions in star formation research: What sets the rate at which new stars and planets are born? What factors determine the masses of stars and the properties of the associated planet-forming disks?

To learn more, please visit the Novak Group page. 

Research Interests

Formation of Stars and Planets; Galactic Center; Interstellar Medium; Instrumentation for Infrared, Submillimeter, and Millimeter Astronomy

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Student Government Faculty and Administrator Honor Roll, 2013 & 2015
  • Weinberg College Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduate Research, 2012
  • Northwestern University Delta Zeta Outstanding Professor Award, 1997
  • NSF Faculty Early Career Development Award, 1997
  • University of Chicago William Rainey Harper Fellowship, 1986
  • University of Chicago Gregor Wentzel Award for "Excellence as a Graduate Student Tutor", 1982

Selected Publications

  • E. G. Cox et al.
    The Twisted Magnetic Field of the Protobinary L483
    Astrophysical Journal 932, 34 (2022)
  • D. Lee et al.
    HAWC+/SOFIA Polarimetry in L1688: Relative Orientation of Magnetic Field and Elongated Cloud Structure
    Astrophysical Journal 918, 39 (2021)
  • P. Santos et al.
    The Far-infrared Polarization Spectrum of Rho Ophiuchi A from HAWC+/SOFIA Observations
    Astrophysical Journal 882, 113 (2019)
  • P. C. Ashton et al.
    First Observation of the Submillimeter Polarization Spectrum in a Translucent Molecular Cloud
    Astrophysical Journal 857, 10 (2018)
  • L. M. Fissel et al.
    Balloon-Borne Submillimeter Polarimetry of the Vela C Molecular Cloud: Systematic Dependence of Polarization Fraction on Column Density and Local Polarization-Angle Dispersion 
    Astrophysical Journal 824, 134 (2016)
  • N. L. Chapman, J. A. Davidson, P. F. Goldsmith, M. Houde, W. Kwon, Z.-Y. Li, L. W. Looney, B. Matthews, T. G. Matthews, G. Novak, R. Peng, J. E. Vaillancourt, and N. H. Volgenau
    Alignment Between Flattened Protostellar Infall Envelopes and Ambient Magnetic Fields
    Astrophysical Journal 770, 151 (2013)

Other Activities