Bulletin of the American Physical Society
2021 Fall Meeting of the APS Division of Nuclear Physics
Volume 66, Number 8
Monday–Thursday, October 11–14, 2021; Virtual; Eastern Daylight Time
Session QM: Mini-Symposium: The Next Generation Nuclear Workforce II |
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Chair: Paul Gueye, FRIB/NSCL Room: White Hill |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 11:30AM - 11:42AM |
QM.00001: Institute for Nuclear Science to Inspire the next Generation of a Highly Trained workforce (INSIGHT) at FRIB Paul L Gueye, Felecia Commodore, Abdalla Darwish, Filomena Nunes, Hendrik Schatz, Gregory Severin, Bradley M Sherrill, Artemis Spyrou, Remco G Zegers The Institute for Nuclear Science to Inspire the next Generation of a Highly Trained workforce (INSIGHT) at FRIB is a recent DoE funded Center that has two objectives: (1) support and coordinate a nationwide traneeships effort; and (2) offer traineeships at FRIB by leveraging its scientific opportunities. INSIGHT provides an environment to: (i) recruit and retain undergraduate students in physics, primarily in nuclear physics, and sustain and/or increase their interest, confidence, and enthusiasm in this field; (ii) provide participants with a toolset to become effective independent researchers who pursue further research opportunities as undergraduates; and (iii) encourage participants to pursue graduate studies and potential careers in nuclear science, or related STEM fields. The Center leverages the existing collaboration between FRIB and nine Minority Serving Institutions (7 Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 2 Hispanic Serving Institutions) and expands it to assist and coordinate a nationwide effort encompassing at least 11 MSIs to address the issues of representation within the nuclear physics community. Michigan State University is ranked as the number one nuclear physics graduate program in the nation and FRIB has developed and implemented many successful programs specifically targeted at increasing the participation of under-represented groups in (nuclear) science. INSIGHT will bring together, leverage, and improve these programs to provide a framework that supports MSIs across the nation in their role to substantially impact the training of the next generation of nuclear scientists. This talk will provide an overview and current status of the INSIGHT Center. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 11:42AM - 11:54AM |
QM.00002: A Nuclear Education Hub (NEH) for Training the Next Generation Nuclear Workforce William Briscoe, Andrei Afanasev, Alireza Haghighat The George Washington University (GWU) Physics Department and the Virginia Tech (VT) Nuclear Engineering Program have established a Nuclear Education Hub (NEH) to provide practical training for both foreign and domestic masters students in Nuclear Science and Engineering. The goal of the program under development is to support global partnerships in nuclear power generation and utilization, and to educate the next generation of specialists in the area of nuclear technologies. NEH is centered in the Washington, DC metropolitan area and has entered into partnership agreements with nuclear research centers and National laboratories in US that offer access to state-of-the-art facilities to our students and instructors. To facilitate cooperation and communication between the stakeholders in both the US and abroad, NEH will established an external Board of Advisors that will provide support, advice and guidance on matters that will ensure the high quality of our programs and strengthen employment opportunities for our students. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 11:54AM - 12:06PM |
QM.00003: Supporting the pathways for the nuclear science workforce of the future Jolie A Cizewski Developing the future workforce for nuclear science and its applications is a collective responsibility of the nuclear science community. The Conference Experience for Undergraduates (CEU) at the annual DNP meeting is a superb example of how the nuclear science community reaches out to undergraduates interested in our field and showcases their scientific accomplishments and potential for future contributions and leadership. The DNP attendees engage with the CEU participants in many ways. I have been fortunate to host many workshops on how to apply for graduate school. By listening to the CEU participants, I continue to learn about their passions for advanced studies and research as I share with them my experiences that help them in preparing for graduate school and future careers. An ongoing challenge is to reach out to students from traditionally under-represented, including economically disadvantaged, backgrounds and foster their engagement in nuclear science. The present talk would describe the graduate school workshops I have hosted and my collaboration with the Garden State – Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (GS-LSAMP) that supports a pathway from two-year colleges to doctoral studies. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:06PM - 12:18PM |
QM.00004: NuSTEAM - Nuclear Science in Texas to Enhance and Advance Minorities Claudia Ratti, Rene Bellwied, Anthony Timmins, Daniel D Cherdack, Lawrence S Pinsky, Israel Portillo Vazquez, Jorge A Munoz, Efrain J Ferrer, Vivian F Incera, Premkumar Saganti, Gary Erickson This is a new collaborative effort by four Texas-based minority serving universities that conduct an undergraduate traineeship project under the guidelines of the TBD-NP (Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify the Nuclear Physics community) program. The collaboration consists of the University of Houston (UH), University of Texas - Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), University of Texas – El Paso (UTEP) and Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU). |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:18PM - 12:30PM |
QM.00005: The BNL-MSI Fellowship Program for Research Excellence and Preparation in Nuclear Physics (PREP-NP) Mickey G Chiu The newly formed BNL-MSI Fellowship Program for Research Excellence and Preparation in Nuclear Physics, (PREP-NP) is a collaboration between Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to serve as a bridge for under-represented undergraduate students and graduate school in Nuclear Physics or other STEM careers. The program started in the Summer of 2021, and is a part of the DOE NP Traineeship pilot program. It is administered by Brookhaven National Lab’s Office of Educational Programs and the Nuclear and Particle Physics Directorate. The PREP-NP Fellowship pairs upper-class students interested in a career in physics with Faculty Advisors and BNL Scientists to collaborate on a Nuclear Physics research project over a two-year term. The opportunity to do cutting-edge research at BNL, along with the intense mentoring provided by scientists and professors, forms the foundation of the program. The program also strives for a holistic approach to the traineeship, to ensure the students have the personal support to succeed, no matter the challenges. In this talk we will present the structure and ideas behind the program, and an initial assessment of how well it is working. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:30PM - 12:42PM |
QM.00006: Undergraduate Internships in Nuclear Physics at FIU Wim Cosyn, Brian Raue, Joerg Reinhold, Lei Guo, Pete Markowitz FIU is one of the 5 largest universities in the US and serves a diverse student population with nearly 65% identifying as Hispanic and 12% as Black or African American. The FIU nuclear physics group's research focuses on intermediate energy nuclear physics, specifically the programs at Jefferson Lab and the future electron-ion collider. A recent DOE funding opportunity (Research Traineeships To Broaden And Diversify Nuclear Physics) has resulted in the funding of four annual undergraduate internships in the FIU department. Participants in the program will recieve training in skills ranging from hardware assembly to coding for data analysis and theoretical physics studies and will have the opportunity to attend topical meetings to present their work. We also discuss the evaluation and outreach components of the program and also highlight other Diversity Equity & Inclusion initiatives at our department. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:42PM - 12:54PM |
QM.00007: Growing representation in nuclear physics in Eastern TN Nadia Fomin We have recruited a cohort of 10 undergraduates from Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) to participate in nuclear physics (NP) research in Eastern Tennessee (ET) as part of the new NPET Fellowship Program. The program balances mentorship from leaders in their fields with professional development and networking workshops throughout the year. Through the activities of the program, the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK) Physics and Astronomy Department and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have partnered to develop the physics identity and feelings of belonging and will improve the retention of under-represented minority (URM) students in the field. This talk will discuss the details of the ongoing program and plans for the future. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 12:54PM - 1:06PM |
QM.00008: HADRONS: Helping Amplify Diversity and Research Opportunities in Nuclear Science. Rodrigo Navarro Perez, Calvin W Johnson, Fridolin Weber This new traineeship program aims to broaden and diversify the Nuclear Physics workforce by providing undergraduate physics students at a Minority Serving Institution with financial support, research experience, direct mentoring from faculty, career development opportunities and the opportunity to participate in outreach activities. At the same time, the scientific goals of the project aim to advance current research in uncertainty quantification of nuclear interactions, sensitivity analysis in shell model calculations, and proton-induced fission yields. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 1:06PM - 1:18PM |
QM.00009: Machine learning techniques for analyzing multi-neutron decay measurements Thomas Redpath, Megan Brayton, Darrius Orton The goal of this project is to provide students at Virginia State University (VSU) with opportunities to pursue nuclear science research while developing useful skills and connections to the nuclear science community. There are two main science goals of the project: (1) to develop a library of multi-neutron events from various measurements made by the MoNA Collaboration and (2) to explore the applicability of machine learning methods to differentiating between events in which two neutrons are detected and events in which one neutron scattering multiple times was recorded. Through their work, students will develop computer programming, data analysis/visualization, and science communication skills. Through working with the MoNA Collaboration, visits to the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams, and involvement with the Institute for Nuclear Science to Inspire the Next Generation of a Highly Trained Workforce (INSIGHT), students will be introduced to and work with the nuclear science community in order to introduce them to a range of academic and career opportunities. The motivations and structure for this research program will be discussed and some preliminary results will be presented. |
Thursday, October 14, 2021 1:18PM - 1:30PM |
QM.00010: Pathways to Improved Representation in Advanced Nuclear Science Kolo Wamba, Emilie Hein Our project will foster Skyline College student involvement in ongoing research and development for the next Enriched Xenon Observatory (nEXO). An international collaboration of 150 individuals representing 40 institutions, nEXO will perform a nuclear physics experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) in Xe-136. Skyline College, a minority-serving institution (MSI), will give students the chance to participate in original research in nuclear physics, with an aim to increase the likelihood that students from underrepresented populations will pursue graduate studies in nuclear physics, thereby helping to diversify the field. Our 8 student trainees will develop hardware and software to support nEXO R&D in: (a) purity tests of candidate detector materials; (b) vacuum and xenon gas management; (c) data acquisition and analysis. The nEXO detector is a Time Projection Chamber (TPC) containing 5 t of liquid xenon enriched to 90% in the isotope Xe-136. Candidate 0νββ events that originate in the 90% Xe-136 sample will be identified by the TPC. With an expected decay half-life much greater than 10^25 years, 0νββ is extremely rare. Other processes, such as trace radioactivity from impurities in the TPC, or ionizing cosmic ray events, are far more common and are a large background. It is therefore important to construct the nEXO TPC out of ultra-clean and radiopure materials and to place the experiment deep underground to shield it from cosmic rays. Student learning outcomes: (1) trainees are acquainted with the field of experimental nuclear physics; (2) have confidence in their ability to independently pursue graduate studies in experimental nuclear physics; (3) have a sense of the career possibilities in nuclear physics; (4) have an understanding of how a modern nuclear physics experiment is run. Skills to be acquired: (1) computer programming; (2) electronics test and assembly; (3) rapid prototyping; (4) design of experiments. |
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