Dr. Frey Earns Referee Recognition

The University of Winnipeg has a top ranked referee in its midst. Dr. Andrew Frey of the physics department is sought after for his critical eye and breadth of knowledge in his field. Frey was given the title of Outstanding Referee for 2014 by the American Physical Society (APS).

“Refereeing is an important responsibility, and I take pride in the work I do for it, especially when I can help other authors improve their research,” expressed Frey. “It’s very gratifying to be recognized.”

This is a highly selective award program that recognizes scientists who have been exceptionally helpful in assessing manuscripts for publication in the APS journals. Like a Fellowship in the APS, this is a lifetime award.

“Dr. Andrew Frey has helped shape the quality of international scientific publishing in some of the most prestigious physics journals in the world,” expressed Dr. Dwight Vincent, Chair of Physics. “This award signifies his laudable service to physics research in his chosen area of Cosmology and Superstring Theoretical Physics.”

Frey is among a list of distinguished minds from illustrious universities from across the globe. He is a top researcher in the rarefied scientific specialties who takes time to give pre-publication articles an intellectually thorough critical assessment. Referees must maintain the reputed quality of the published journal articles by submitting all papers to a rigorous peer review process.

“I am glad to see this recognition of the high quality of our Science faculty in an international context,” said Dr. James Currie, Dean of Science. “This award shows that Dr. Frey’s high level of expertise in String Theory and related topics makes his opinion a sought-after commodity in the evaluation of Physics research.”

When Frey is not teaching or referring, he works on his research in dark matter and string theory. He has a special interest in measurements in astrophysics that are (so far) difficult to explain by standard physics and might be related to dark matter. His work on string theory, which is an ambitious speculative theory, attempts to explain all of subatomic physics and gravity together.

Currently he has two projects on the go – one that relates to the idea of extra dimensions, which string theory requires; and the other project is about the formation of black holes in gravitational collapse, in collaboration with UWinnipeg’s Dr. Gabor Kunstatter.