Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: The Early Universe Laboratory: Primordial Phenomena as Probes of New Physics

Sarah Geller被授予NSF数学和物理科学提升博士后研究奖学金，以开展与扩大STEM中代表性不足的群体成员参与相关的研究和活动计划。Geller博士的研究项目名为“博士后奖学金：MPS-Ascend：早期宇宙实验室：作为新物理探测的原始现象”，由一位赞助科学家指导。该奖学金的主办机构是加州大学圣克鲁兹分校（University of California, Santa Cruz），赞助科学家是Stefano Profumo博士。盖勒博士将进行一项研究项目，研究宇宙大爆炸后一秒内遗留下来的宇宙现象，包括原始黑洞、一阶相变和引力波。她计划确定大类别早期宇宙模型的一般特征，并做出预测，与即将到来的测量结果进行比较，帮助确定早期宇宙物理学的各种早期宇宙情景的合理性。盖勒博士将把她在麻省理工学院与人合作创建的一系列研讨会带到加州大学圣克鲁兹分校。这个名为“填补差距”的系列研讨会旨在向大四本科生教授应用和专业技能，重点是为代表性不足的群体成员提供指导，包括那些认为自己是STEM中传统服务不足群体成员的学生、女性和残疾学生。她将在研究生阶段讲授两学期的专业技能和策略课程。此外，她将设计并构建一个（最终开源的）交互式无障碍应用程序，该应用程序将允许学生和游客在校园内导航无障碍路线，从加州大学圣克鲁斯分校开始。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Sarah Geller 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 members of groups underrepresented in STEM. This fellowship to Dr. Geller supports her research project entitled “Postdoctoral Fellowship: MPS-Ascend: The Early Universe Laboratory: Primordial Phenomena as Probes of New Physics” under the mentorship of a sponsoring scientist. The host institution for the fellowship is the University of California, Santa Cruz and the sponsoring scientist is Dr. Stefano Profumo. Dr. Geller will pursue a research project to study cosmological phenomena which are relics of the first fraction of a second after the Big Bang, including primordial black holes, first-order phase transitions, and gravitational waves. She plans to identify the generic features characterizing large classes of early universe models and to make predictions to compare with forthcoming measurements, helping to determine the plausibility of various early-universe scenarios for early-universe physics. Dr. Geller will bring a workshop series that she co-created at MIT to UC Santa Cruz. This workshop series, entitled "Filling the GAPS", is designed to teach application and professional skills to senior undergraduate students with an emphasis on providing mentorship to members of under-represented groups, including students who identify as members of traditionally underserved groups in STEM, women, and students with disabilities. She will teach a two-quarter course on professional skills and strategies at the graduate student level. In addition, she will design and build an (eventually open source) interactive accessibility app which will allow students and visitors to navigate accessible routes around campus, beginning with UC Santa Cruz.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.