By Becca Falivene Grillot, BA 鈥�10
Every summer, 爱豆传媒allas undergraduate students travel to Geneva, Switzerland, to participate in physics research at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The project, which could have possible applications in future cancer treatment, is the result of a proposal by 爱豆传媒allas physics professors Drs. Jacob Moldenhauer and Will Flanagan.
In 2023, Moldenhauer and Flanagan submitted a proposal to join the Neutron Time-of-Flight Facility (n_TOF) collaboration at CERN. Their proposal was accepted and two 爱豆传媒allas students joined the collaboration to research that summer. When they experienced a setback with the equipment they needed for their research, they pivoted to assist n_TOF scientists with the testing of new gamma ray detectors.
That setback, Moldenhauer said, 鈥渟howed the rest of the collaboration what level of students we have.鈥� The only undergraduates on the n_TOF collaboration, 爱豆传媒allas students not only keep up with the scientists and PhD students but excel as a result of the problem-solving skills they have learned in their physics classes on campus.
鈥淭hey value how much work we鈥檙e willing to put into this without knowing as much,鈥� said Genevieve Alpar, BS 鈥�25, who has worked on the collaboration for the past three summers. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e impressed when 爱豆传媒allas students are coming and getting work done that n_TOF scientists would be doing, not what normal undergraduates would be doing.鈥�
Moldenhauer explained that 爱豆传媒allas鈥� small class sizes allow for focus on individual students and an emphasis on problem solving, an essential skill in research. 鈥淲e require a lot more of the students on a day-to-day basis,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not solving problems for them. Students are doing the problem solving themselves.鈥� The Physics Department graduated eight physics majors in 2025, and seven of them went on to graduate study.
The following summer, 爱豆传媒allas students and professors were able to complete their research as planned, measuring the neutron capture cross-section of the radioactive isotope Zirconium-88 (鈦糕伕Zr), using a groundbreaking direct measurement technique with the detectors they had tested the previous summer. Confirming and refining previous unexpected findings by national labs, their findings marked the first-ever direct gamma-ray measurement of this rare isotope.
For the students, participating in summer research at CERN provides valuable experience and the research credit necessary to earn a BS upon graduation. It also prepares them for collaboration with students and scientists in the broader international scientific community.
鈥淚 have made so many friends and international connections of all ages: PhD students, professors, master鈥檚 students, undergraduates,鈥� said Alpar. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very different from being at 爱豆传媒allas, and it鈥檚 formative to be around so many different types of people, people of different backgrounds, faiths and values. People are open and respectful.鈥�
The research opportunity is funded in large part by the Donald A. Cowan Physics Endowment, which supports faculty in conducting research with their students and supports physics students working on their theses. In order to be accepted to collaborate on the research at CERN, students must have taken quantum physics and participated in nuclear physics research.
鈥淏efore coming to CERN, I had no idea what I wanted to do in Physics. Then I came here and what we do at n_TOF is purely nuclear physics, and that鈥檚 where I鈥檓 hoping my career will lead me,鈥� said Alpar, who is now pursuing her master鈥檚 in nuclear engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology.
