Cyclotron Institute

Lots of great nuclear science research was on display from our 2026 'Tron Summer Scholars and their cross-campus colleagues at today’s Texas A&M Undergraduate Research Summer Poster Session, held in the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building at Texas A&M University. Congrats and well done, students and mentors!

See additional photos:
http://tx.ag/2026UGRSummerPosterSession

A Texas A&M University-led U.S. Department of Energy Genesis Mission project will teach AI to run the world’s most delicate physics experiments, maximizing foundational discovery and dramatically increasing the productivity of U.S. scientific infrastructure.

Learn more about the project and its lead investigator, Texas A&M Physics and Astronomy Assistant Professor and Cyclotron Institute member Jonas Karthein:

http://tx.ag/KartheinGenesisMission

More than 130 researchers from around the world visited Texas A&M University in May for the 2026 CeNAM Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Meeting, co-hosted by the Texas A&M Cyclotron Institute and Texas A&M Physics and Astronomy, to share research progress and inspire collaboration across a multidisciplinary field with strong overlaps and unlimited potential.

The annual event was sponsored by the Center for Nuclear astrophysics Across Messengers (CeNAM), the International Research Network for Nuclear Astrophysics (IReNA), the European Physical Journal A, and the WoodNext Foundation.

Relive the experience through the eyes of Texas A&M graduate students and event co-chairs John Dixon and Anthony Lestone and check out additional event photos at the link below:

http://tx.ag/Frontiers2026Recap

Dozens of Bryan/College Station Girl Scouts recently joined us for Atomic Arts Day, featuring hands-on workshops, a pizza lunch with Texas A&M University faculty and graduate students, and tours of the Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M Physics and Astronomy, the Nuclear Engineering & Science Center TRIGA reactor, the Texas A&M AgriLife National Center for Electron Beam Research and the Texas A&M Engineering Zachry Engineering Education Complex. Thanks to all participants and sponsors and to all whose planning and behind-the-scenes work made this lifelong nuclear science learning opportunity possible!

We're proud to welcome 19 undergraduate researchers from across the state and nation as 2026 'Tron Summer Scholars encompassing our National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program as well as the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-funded Texas Research Expanding Nuclear Development (TREND) and Horizon-broadening Isotope Production Pipeline Opportunities (HIPPO) programs. Lots of great nuclear science research to come in Aggieland!

We are proud to congratulate graduate student Iain Bisset on being awarded a prestigious U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Fellowship. Advised by Professor Bhaskar Dutta, Iain will spend the remainder of his PhD at Los Alamos National Laboratory, collaborating with leading scientists across institutions on cutting edge neutrino research.

Iain received the award for his proposed research project, “Developing Rigorous Methods of Model Discernment in Neutrino Phenomenology.” The origin of dark matter and the smallness of neutrino masses remain two of the most fundamental open questions in particle physics. In his fellowship proposal, Iain aims to address these challenges by developing machine learning based techniques to identify experimentally accessible signatures of new physics.

His work will focus on efficiently distinguishing rare signals from complex background data, enhancing sensitivity to subtle features in particle interactions such as kinematics, timing, and topology. These approaches will help enable the identification and characterization of dark sector interactions and the underlying mechanisms responsible for generating neutrino masses.

The DOE SCGSR award recognizes outstanding academic accomplishments, the merit of the proposed research, and the potential to make important contributions to the mission of the DOE.

Please join us in congratulating Iain on this outstanding achievement!

A big Texas A&M University “Howdy!” to everyone joining us this week for the 2026 CeNAM Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics Conference, an annual event for researchers in nuclear physics and astrophysics to share their work and collaborate. The first two days (May 18-19) are dedicated to a junior workshop, followed by the three-day main meeting (May 20-22).

The conference is co-hosted by the Cyclotron Institute and Texas A&M Physics and Astronomy.

Welcome to Aggieland! 👍

Learn more: http://tx.ag/frontiers2026

The Cyclotron Institute has been awarded a $13 million grant from the Office of the Governor Greg Abbott’s Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund through The Texas A&M University System toward a facility expansion to enhance Texas A&M University’s capabilities in chip testing and discovery science.

Cyclotron Institute Receives $13 Million Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund Grant The award will be combined with previous funding from the Missile Defense Agency and various Texas A&M sources to support a facility expansion that will enhance Texas A&M’s chip testing and discovery science capacity.