Associate 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
- Associate 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
- Intersecting Perspectives (Oct 13, 2025 | Duke Today)
- Duke Alumna Selected To Be in the 24th NASA Astronaut Class (Sep 26, 2025 | Duk…
- Trinity College of Arts & Sciences Launches SPACE Initiative (Sep 2, 2025 | Tri…
- Dan Scolnic Named Presidential Fellow (Aug 12, 2025 | Duke Today)
- The Universe is Expanding More Quickly Than We Thought (Jan 27, 2025 | Trinity …
- Duke Cosmic Explorers Are Mapping Space’s Invisible Secrets (Jun 20, 2024 | Pra…
- Which Duke Scholars Made the Most Cited List? (Nov 16, 2023 | Duke Research Blo…
- Taking a Larger View of the Universe (Oct 17, 2023 | Duke Today)
- 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
- Acevedo, Maria, Nora F. Sherman, Dillon Brout, Bastien Carreres, Daniel Scolnic, Brodie Popovic, Patrick Armstrong, et al. “The Dark Energy Bedrock All-sky Supernova Program: Cross Calibration, Simulations, and Cosmology Forecasts.” The Astrophysical Journal 996, no. 1 (January 1, 2026): 7–7. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae1e78.
- Zhou, A. J., S. Dodelson, and D. Scolnic. “Isotropy of Hubble Expansion in the Early and Late Universe.” Physical Review Letters 135, no. 26 (December 31, 2025). https://doi.org/10.1103/w99g-lgnn.
- Murakami, Yukei S., and Daniel Scolnic. “Reassessing the ZTF Volume-limited Type Ia Supernova Sample and Its Implications for Continuous, Dust-dependent Models of Intrinsic Scatter.” The Astrophysical Journal 995, no. 1 (December 10, 2025): 62–62. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae122d.
- Alarcon, A., L. Aldoroty, G. Beltz-Mohrmann, A. Bera, J. Blazek, J. Bogart, G. Braeunlich, et al. “OpenUniverse2024: A shared, simulated view of the sky for the next generation of cosmological surveys.” Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 544, no. 4 (December 1, 2025): 3799–3823. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1833.
- Carreres, Bastien, Rebecca C. Chen, Erik R. Peterson, Dan Scolnic, Corentin Ravoux, Damiano Rosselli, Maria Acevedo, et al. “Type Ia Supernova Growth-rate Measurement with LSST Simulations: Intrinsic Scatter Systematics.” The Astrophysical Journal 994, no. 2 (December 1, 2025): 178–178. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ae11ac.