Illinois Tech Leads $1.9 Million Fellowship Grant to Train Future Accelerator Scientists
CHICAGO—December 5, 2019—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) and Northern Illinois University (NIU) a $1.9 million grant to train physics graduate students in accelerator science and technology (AST). These new fellowships include hands-on research experience at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.
The grant will fund the new Chicagoland Accelerator Science Traineeship program, which will provide two-year fellowships at both Illinois Tech and NIU. The program will begin in spring 2020 and fellowships will support eight Illinois Tech students over the next five years.
“Not enough people are being trained to work in the field of accelerator science. We at Illinois Tech can help fill this workforce gap and train the next generation of accelerator scientists,” said Yagmur Torun, an Illinois Tech associate professor of physics and principal investigator on the grant.
In addition to Torun, two other Illinois Tech faculty will participate in the new training opportunities—Pavel Snopok, associate professor and computational accelerator physicist, and Linda Spentzouris, physics professor and accelerator physicist.
Particle accelerators use electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles at high speeds contained within beams. Illinois Tech’s Center for Accelerator and Particle Physics (CAPP) has been in existence for more than 20 years and provides a forum for cross-disciplinary work beyond physics, including in engineering and materials science.
Students have had the opportunity to learn by doing through the university’s research collaborations with Fermilab, Argonne and Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)-funded companies. Illinois Tech will accept fellowship applications on a rolling basis. The program will cover student tuition costs for two years and fund paid research assistantships at Fermilab or Argonne. [Click here for more information.]
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