Professor of Physics
Use observational tools to measure the expansion history of the universe. Trying to answer big questions like 'what is dark energy?'.
Appointments and Affiliations
- Professor of Physics
- Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Contact Information
- Office Location: 120 Science Drive, Box 90305, Durham, NC 27708
- Email Address: daniel.scolnic@duke.edu
- Websites:
Education
- B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007
- Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University, 2013
Research Interests
Cosmology, Supernova.
Awards, Honors, and Distinctions
- Defense Science Study Group (DSSG). Institute for Defense Analysis. 2023
- Clarivate Most Highly Cited Scientists. Clarivate. 2023
- Fred Kavli Plenary Lectureship. American Astronomical Society. 2023
- Sloan Research Fellowship - Physics. Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. 2022
- Department of Energy Early Career Award. Department of Energy. 2021
- Packard Fellowship. The David and Lucille Packard Foundation. 2019
Courses Taught
- PHYSICS 791: Special Readings
- PHYSICS 556: Stellar Astrophysics
- PHYSICS 493: Research Independent Study
- PHYSICS 151L9D: Introductory Mechanics (Discussion Component)
- PHYSICS 134CN: Introduction to Astronomy
- PHYSICS 134: Introduction to Astronomy
- HOUSECS 59: House Course
In the News
- Scholars Square Off in Duke’s First Latke vs. Hamentasch Debate (Mar 10, 2026)
- Intersecting Perspectives (Oct 13, 2025)
- Duke Alumna Selected To Be in the 24th NASA Astronaut Class (Sep 26, 2025)
- Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches SPACE Initiative (Sep 2, 2025)
- Dan Scolnic Named Presidential Fellow (Aug 12, 2025)
- The Universe is Expanding More Quickly Than We Thought (Jan 27, 2025)
- Duke Cosmic Explorers Are Mapping Space’s Invisible Secrets (Jun 20, 2024)
- Which Duke Scholars Made the Most Cited List? (Nov 16, 2023)
- Taking a Larger View of the Universe (Oct 17, 2023)
- Two Duke Researchers Named Sloan Fellows (Feb 15, 2022)
- The universe is expanding faster than it should be (Dec 17, 2021 | National Geo…
- Prof. Scolnic Receives DOE Early Career Award (May 28, 2021)
- Prestigious Packard Fellowship Supports Duke Cosmologist in Answering Questions…
Representative Publications
- Stiskalek, Richard, Adam G. Riess, Harry Desmond, Guilhem Lavaux, and Dan Scolnic. “Forward-modelling Milky Way Cepheids: selection effects and physical priors in the Gaia – HST calibration.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 550, no. 3 (July 20, 2026). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag1272.
- Wiseman, P., B. Popovic, M. Sullivan, A. G. Riess, D. Scolnic, R. C. Chen, T. M. Davis, et al. “Still accelerating: type Ia supernova cosmology is robust to host galaxy age evolution.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 549, no. 3 (July 1, 2026). https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stag797.
- Griggio, M., R. E. Ryan, N. Pirzkal, T. L. Astraatmadja, S. Casertano, S. Perlmutter, D. Rubin, et al. “Flux Cube Reconstruction from Slitless Spectroscopy.” Astronomical Journal 172, no. 1 (July 1, 2026). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/ae7a48.
- Murakami, Y. S., A. G. Riess, H. C. Ferguson, A. V. Filippenko, T. G. Brink, W. K. Zheng, and D. M. Scolnic. “The Extinction Law in Type Ia Supernovae Hosts from Background Galaxy Measurements: Toward a 1% Determination of H0.” Astrophysical Journal 1005, no. 1 (July 1, 2026). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae224f.
- Marlin, E. G., Y. S. Murakami, D. Brout, J. W. Tweddle, B. Popovic, K. W. Smith, S. J. Smartt, et al. “TITAN DR1: An Improved, Validated, and Systematically Controlled Recalibration of ATLAS Photometry toward Type Ia Supernova Cosmology.” Astrophysical Journal 1004, no. 2 (June 20, 2026). https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae69cc.