Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: Jet-Energy Loss Measurements with the sPHENIX Detector

Anthony Hodges被授予NSF数学和物理科学提升博士后研究奖学金，以开展一项与扩大STEM中代表性不足的群体的参与相关的研究和活动。霍奇斯博士的这笔奖学金支持他在一位赞助科学家的指导下开展的题为“博士后研究：MPS-Ascend：用sPHENIX探测器测量喷流-能量损失”的研究项目。该奖学金的主办机构是伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校(UIUC)，赞助科学家是安妮·西克尔斯博士。霍奇斯将开展一项研究项目，通过测量大核之间高能碰撞产生的夸克胶子等离子体(QGP)的性质，更好地了解极端温度下的核强力和量子色动力学(QCD)。这项计划中的研究将使用一种名为sPHENIX的新型最先进的粒子探测器，它将于2023年夏天开始收集布鲁克海文国家实验室相对论重离子对撞机产生的核碰撞数据。霍奇斯将有广泛的外展活动，包括通过格兰杰工程学院的青年学者(GEnYuS)计划指导高中生，通过全国黑人物理学家协会(NSBP)参与招募，为其他少数族裔科学个人启动赞助机会，并参与长岛科学中心STEAM博物馆的当地努力，以提高STEM中代表不足的少数族裔。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Anthony Hodges is awarded an NSF Mathematical and Physical Sciences Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct a program of research and activities related to broadening participation by groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Hodges supports his research project entitled " Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: Jet-Energy Loss Measurements with the sPHENIX Detector", under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Anne Sickles.Dr. Hodges will pursue a research project to better understand the nuclear strong force and Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) at extreme temperatures by measuring properties of the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) produced in high-energy collisions between large nuclei. The studies in this proposal will utilize a new, state-of-the-art particle detector known as sPHENIX, which will begin collecting data from nuclear collisions produced by the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the summer of 2023. Hodges will have a wide range of outreach activities including mentoring high school students through the Grainger College of Engineering’s Young Scholars (GEnYuS) program, engaging in recruitment through the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), kick-start sponsorship opportunities for other minority science individuals, and engage in local efforts at the Long Island Science Center STEAM Museum to elevate under-represented minorities in STEM.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.