Newswise — Scientists who are interested in developing the scientific and technical knowledge needed to advance a proposed electron-ion collider are invited to apply for two programs supported by the Electron-Ion Collider Center at Jefferson Lab. This research center is located at the Department of Energy’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. 

“We are casting our net wide for both programs, and we are accepting proposals that focus on many different kinds of efforts that have to do with an EIC, from physics, to detectors, to computing, as well as, in the Visitors Program, accelerator design,” said Rik Yoshida, director of the EIC Center at Jefferson Lab. 

An EIC is a proposed particle accelerator that would collide electrons with atomic nuclei to produce snapshots of the internal structure of protons and nuclei in unprecedented detail, allowing nuclear physicists to learn about gluons and the “strong nuclear force” to further our understanding of the world around us.  The location of this accelerator has not yet been determined.   

The EIC Fellowship Program, which was first offered in 2018, provides one-year fellowships to graduate students enrolled in a relevant doctoral program and postdoctoral scientists engaged in a full-time position at a university or research institution for research related to an EIC. Study areas include theory, detector design, experiment design or computing. 

Applicants to the EIC Fellowship Program must submit a research plan written by the applicant together with a university advisor and a sponsoring Jefferson Lab staff member. Fellows are expected to spend at least half their time during the one-year fellowship at Jefferson Lab, beginning in the fall of 2019. Limited travel support is also available during the fellowship period. Funding for the EIC Fellowship Program is provided by the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

“We’ve been very happy with the variety and quality of the fellowship projects from the 2018 cohort, and we are looking forward to awarding more early-career scientists for their work toward an EIC,” Yoshida said. 

The Visitors Program is now accepting proposals from scientists at any stage of their career to conduct research in fields related to aspects of EIC science and technical fields. This is the inaugural announcement of the program, which would take place between March and mid-September of this year.  

Awardees will be chosen based on a written proposal that outlines a short-duration research effort on a topic related to an EIC, such as studies detailing the physics case, detector design or accelerator design. If chosen, the visitor would spend up to two weeks at Jefferson Lab to work on the effort, with travel expenses covered by the program. Funding for the Visitors Program is provided by DOE. 

“In initiating the Visitors Program, we hope to encourage more scientists to participate in the early planning of an EIC, wherever it is finally located,” Yoshida said. 

Additional details about the programs may be found on the EIC Center at Jefferson Lab website. 

Contact: Kandice Carter, Jefferson Lab Communications Office, 757-269-7263, [email protected] 

-end- 

Jefferson Science Associates, LLC, a joint venture of the Southeastern Universities Research Association, Inc. and PAE, manages and operates the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, or Jefferson Lab, for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. 

 Jefferson Lab is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.