UB Faculty of Physics Professor awarded for research excellence

Faculty members at the University of Bucharest are increasingly standing out through their research activity, receiving recognition and awards for their achievements in the fields they teach.

On Friday, July 25, 2025, Lecturer Mihaela Pârvu, PhD, a faculty member at the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Physics, was awarded second prize at the “Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering”. The event, now in its 11^th edition, was organized by the Cluj-Napoca City Hall in partnership with Professor Rada Mihalcea, PhD, honorary citizen of the city and a professor and researcher at the University of Michigan, USA.

This prestigious event brought together talented young researchers from across disciplines including physics, engineering, chemistry, biology and gastroenterology, with the goal of highlighting their contributions to advancing scientific knowledge.

Lecturer Mihaela Pârvu, who earned the second prize, completed both her undergraduate and master’s studies at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Bucharest. In 2021, she earned her PhD with the thesis “Radioactive Background Studies and Exotic Processes in Liquid Argon Detectors”, which was awarded the highest academic distinction, “Excellent.” The thesis later earned the award for Best Doctoral Thesis in Exact Sciences and Engineering at the 6th edition of the Univeristy Senate Awards in 2022.

Encouraging future students to consider a path in physics, lecturer Mihaela Pârvu shared a few key thoughts about the field at the time:

“The laws of physics are simplified representations of nature through the lens of mathematics, and to be a physicist, you must develop the ability to quantitatively evaluate your results. Research requires continuous learning, so you’ll never get bored. Contrary to popular belief, being a researcher doesn’t mean being locked in a lab all day. On the contrary, it involves teamwork and collaboration with others in the field. I’ve wanted to study physics since I was a child, and I’ve never once regretted that decision.”

Today, lecturer Mihaela Pârvu balances her teaching responsibilities with cutting-edge research, participating in international collaborations such as DUNE (Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment), the largest experiment of its kind in the world, involving around 1,300 researchers from over 40 institutions across four continents. She is also a member of DRD-2 (Detector R&D Collaboration for Liquid detectors), and the NP02 (LBNO DEMO) at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

Beyond her academic and scientific work, lecturer Mihaela Pârvu s also dedicated to promoting the University of Bucharest’s Faculty of Physics. She recently appeared in a video highlighting the Faculty’s educational programs for prospective students.

Her accomplishments reflect the profile of a passionate educator and researcher committed to inspiring and shaping the next generation of physicists.

Launched in 2015, the Rada Mihalcea Awards for Young Researchers in Science and Engineering are presented annually to honor early-career scientists and engineers whose work reflects excellence and significant contributions to their fields.