Nuclear physics traineeship program offers launchpad for research careers

Program provides paid traineeships for students to be mentored by nuclear researchers

2023-11-21

(Press-News.org) Associate Professor of physics Benjamin Jones has received a $341,571 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue his successful traineeship program at The University of Texas at Arlington.

The program exposes undergraduate students to opportunities in particle and nuclear physics, which offer key components in many diverse careers, such as nuclear medicine, radiation therapy, archaeology, precision management and astrophysics.

UTA’s Nuclear Research Experiences for Minority Students (NREMST) started in 2021 with the goal of immersing students from historically underrepresented populations in nuclear physics.

“We know that many students have exceptional potential to make outstanding contributions to nuclear physics, but that they never consider careers in the field simply because they never have exposure to it,” said Jones, principal investigator of the project. “We hope to offer them a positive experience that can serve as a launch pad for them to pursue research careers.”

The program has hosted eight trainees who contributed to the production of heavy ion beams for precision nuclear chemistry, the development of particle detectors to study nuclear reactions, the exploration of novel concepts in rare event detection and the study of the capabilities of low-pressure time projection chambers. Several students who participated have now applied to graduate school to pursue doctoral degrees in physics and are working on the next phases of their research careers.

The program for 2024 begins officially in the summer to allow mentors to build relationships with the students as they introduce the subject matter and research expectations. Students who finish the first summer suitably engaged and enthusiastic about the work will be encouraged to re-apply for a second summer with options to continue remote paid work through the program during the subsequent fall and spring semesters. Other students can finish their summer commitment and easily move on to other interests without feeling an obligation.

Jonathan Asaadi, associate professor of physics, and Raquel Castillo Fernández, assistant professor of physics, are co-principal investigators and co-organizers of the program.

“It is truly satisfying to see students who had no exposure to nuclear physics catch the research bug and start to get excited about the possibility of a scientific career,” Asaadi said.

“All of the students we have hosted so far have shown so much potential, and it is great that we can offer a taste of what nuclear physics research has to offer for people who would not otherwise have been exposed to it," Castillo said.

Applications for summer 2024 will open in January, with application review expected to begin Feb. 28 and decisions expected by March 7. Visit the NREMST website for more information.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

Nuclear physics traineeship program offers launchpad for research careers 2

Nuclear physics traineeship program offers launchpad for research careers 3

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Experts from the UK and South America join forces for major new study of mental health reform

2023-11-21

A major new research project will explore the impact of transformational changes to mental health treatment in South America. Community-based care for people with psychosocial disabilities began in the region in the 1960s and 1970s, when a minority of people were moved from large and isolated psychiatric hospitals to residential alternatives in the community. This policy was promoted by the World Health Organization and the Pan America Health Organization and is considered a defining element of the modernisation of mental health systems. But in current analysis of this process the ethical, social and political tensions associated ...

Bacteria store memories and pass them on for generations

2023-11-21

Scientists have discovered that bacteria can create something like memories about when to form strategies that can cause dangerous infections in people, such as resistance to antibiotics and bacterial swarms when millions of bacteria come together on a single surface. The discovery — which has potential applications for preventing and combatting bacterial infections and addressing antibiotic-resistant bacteria — relates to a common chemical element bacterial cells can use to form and pass along these memories to their progeny over later generations. Researchers ...

Forest modeling shows which harvest rotations lead to maximum carbon sequestration

2023-11-21

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Forest modeling by Oregon State University scientists shows that a site’s productivity – an indicator of how fast trees grow and how much biomass they accumulate – is the main factor that determines which time period between timber harvests allows for maximum above-ground carbon sequestration. The findings, published in the journal Forests, are important for Pacific Northwest forest managers seeking to strike an optimal balance between harvesting and carbon sequestration, an important tool in the fight against climate change. The study by Catherine Carlisle, Temesgen Hailemariam ...

The bilingual brain may be better at ignoring irrelevant information

2023-11-21

People who speak two languages may be better at shifting their attention from one thing to another compared to those who speak one, according to a study published this month in the journal Bilingualism: Language and Cognition. The study examined differences between bilingual and monolingual individuals when it comes to attentional control and ignoring information that isn’t important at the time, said its authors Grace deMeurisse, a University of Florida Ph.D. candidate studying linguistics, and Edith Kaan, ...

Promising target for CAR T cells helps cancer trick the immune system

2023-11-21

(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – November 21, 2023) Findings from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital are moving the field of cancer immunotherapy one step closer to treating brain and solid tumors. Scientists at St. Jude validated a cellular immunotherapy target called 78-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) in proof-of-principle experiments. The group also discovered a resistance mechanism whereby some tumors trick the cancer-killing immune cells into expressing GRP78, thereby turning off the immune cells or causing them to be killed, too. The research, which has implications for developing immunotherapy for the broad range of difficult-to-treat ...

Researchers help unravel brain processes involved in vision

2023-11-21

TORONTO, Nov. 21, 2023 – Faced with images that break the expected pattern, like a do not enter sign where a stop sign is expected, how does the brain react and learn compared to being shown images which match what was predicted? That was the question a team, including York University, set out to answer. A long-standing theory suggests the brain learns a predictive model of the world and its internal predictions are updated when incoming sensory data proves them wrong. However, what the researchers found surprised them, says York Faculty of Science Associate Professor Joel Zylberberg, co-corresponding author of the newly published paper. “Testing ...

Unearthing how a carnivorous fungus traps and digests worms

2023-11-21

A new analysis sheds light on the molecular processes involved when a carnivorous species of fungus known as Arthrobotrys oligospora senses, traps and consumes a worm. Hung-Che Lin of Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, and colleagues present these findings November 21st in the open access journal PLOS Biology. A. oligospora usually derives its nutrients from decaying organic matter, but starvation and the presence of nearby worms can prompt it to form traps to capture and consume worms. A. oligospora is just one of many species of fungi that can trap and eat very small animals. Prior research has illuminated some of the biology behind this ...

Taxing sugar-sweetened beverages in Germany would improve population health and save money

2023-11-21

In Germany, taxing sugar-sweetened beverages could prevent or postpone cases of type 2 diabetes, extend healthy lifespans and save up to €16.0 billion in societal costs over the next 20 years, according to a new study led by Karl Emmert-Fees of the Technical University of Munich, published November 21st in the open access journal PLOS Medicine. The World Health Organization has recommended that governments worldwide lessen the social and economic burden of cardiometabolic disease by taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. These taxes either reduce consumption by increasing the price, such as the one peso per liter ...

Germany: Sugar tax could save as much as 16 billion euros

2023-11-21

A simulation study conducted by a team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) demonstrates that a soft drink tax in Germany would have significant positive effects. In all of the simulated variants evaluated, less sugar was consumed and the rate of illness dropped. This would be a way to reduce costs to the national economy and alleviate the burden on the health care system. There is, however, a difference between taxes aimed at reducing soft drink consumption and taxes aimed at bringing about changes in product formulation. Sugary beverages increase the risk of obesity and illnesses such as diabetes. Several countries have therefore introduced taxes on soft drinks. In Germany ...

Most-cited scientists: still mostly men, but the gender gap is closing

2023-11-21

An analysis of 5.8 million authors across all scientific disciplines shows that the gender gap is closing, but there is still a long distance to go. The new research by John Ioannidis of the Meta-Research Innovation Center at Stanford (METRICs) at Stanford University, US, and colleagues, publishes November 21st in the open access journal PLOS Biology. There is a strong gender gap in science which manifests itself in many ways. One of the most prominent ones is the relative representation of men and women among the scientists whose work receive the most attention in the ...

HKUMed finds depression doubles mortality rates and increases suicide risk 10-fold; timely treatment can reduce risk by up to 30%

ECMWF and European Partners win prestigious HPCwire Award for "Best Use Of AI Methods for Augmenting HPC Applications” – for AI innovation in weather and climate

Nuclear physics traineeship program offers launchpad for research careers

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: