Rare isotopes are found in surprisingly high concentration in ancient meteorites of the Orion Nebula.
Photo by Russell Croman of Russell Croman Astrophotography.
As one of the nation’s top research universities, MSU prides itself on making breakthrough discoveries and finding practical solutions that improve people’s lives, from the cancer-fighting drugs cisplatin and carboplatin to key ingredients in Tamiflu. By expanding research funding and providing more opportunities for graduate and undergraduate student involvement, the possibilities for research are endless—and so is our vision.
Research Engineer Chris Compton of the MSU National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, works with a rare isotope linear accelerator.
Photo by G.L. Kohuth, University Relations
The proposed upgrade of NSCL – the Isotope Science Facility – will improve U.S. research capability by boosting the intensities and varieties of beams of rare isotopes produced at MSU. Such beams will allow researchers and students to address a host of questions at the intellectual frontier of nuclear science: How does the behavior of novel and short-lived nuclei differ from more stable nuclei? What is the nature of nuclear processes in explosive stellar environments? What is the structure of hot nuclear matter at abnormal densities?
Beyond basic research, the Isotope Science Facility may lead to cross-disciplinary benefits. Experiments there will help astronomers better interpret data from ground- and space-based observatories. Scientists at the Isotope Science Facility will contribute to research on self-organization and complexity arising from elementary interactions, a topic relevant to the life sciences and quantum computing. Additionally, the facility's capabilities may lead to advances in fields as diverse as biomedicine, materials science, national and international security, and nuclear energy.
Today, approximately 10 percent of U.S. nuclear science Ph.D.s are educated at NSCL. The nuclear physics graduate program at MSU is ranked second only to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the 2007 Best Grad Schools index published by U.S. News & World Report.
NSCL maintains an ongoing commitment to attracting the next generation of scientists, teaching and mentoring them, and even helping them find their first jobs, whether in nuclear science or in other areas serving the nation. This commitment is part of the motivation to build the Isotope Science Facility on the campus of one of the world’s leading research universities – MSU.
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National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
NSCL Isotope Science Facility
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