Valpo Secures Funding For Nuclear Research
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowValparaiso University has received two grants to be used for nuclear physics research. They include $210,000 from the U.S. Department of Energy and $129,000 from the National Science Foundation.
The DOE grant allows students to study experiments carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island which shows methods to unerstand the inner workings of protons in a large underground collider. The NSF grant provides funding for students to work with physicists throughout the world in an experiment being carried out at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
"This funding provides several Valpo students with extraordinary research opportunities," said Shirvel Stanislaus, professor of physics and principal investigator for the grants. "These students become fully engaged with leading scientists in challenging, high profile experiments, developing skills critical for entry into graduate school. These are opportunities that most students do not find in predominantly undergraduate schools like ours."
Valparaiso student Chamindu Amarsinghe, a physics and mathematics major, says previous DOE-funded research has been crucial in honing skills needed for further graduate research.
"The expansion of knowledge of nuclear matter and its properties provided for by these grants powerfully benefits students, and has broad implications for pure and applied science," said Mark Biermann, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. "Personal involvement in this cutting-edge research provides essential preparation for our students. They will be able to apply the knowledge and skills that they gain to future graduate work in physics or related fields, as well as in careers in science and technology."