FSU Nuclear Science for Florida's Future

When Governor LeRoy Collins established the FSU nuclear physics program in 1958, he was determined to make Florida a full partner in a future of world-class science and high technology. During 43 years, FSU's nuclear scientists have richly fulfilled the governors vision by assuming the mantle of scientific leadership for the state. nation and world. They have driven technological progress, set a standard for scientific excellence that has transformed the university and the state, and educated a generation of scientific leaders that is bringing vitality to the worlds of industry and academics.

 

Florida State's Superconducting Linear Accelerator, built with support from the National Science Foundation and the State of Florida, is a center for world-class research and the education of a new generation of outstanding scientists. It is located on FSU's main campus.

As critical as FSU Nuclear Physics has been to the state in the past, its mission is even more crucial now. The state's high technology industries are demanding scientists who will initiate a new wave of innovation and vision. These new scientists are found in FSU's nuclear physics laboratory and working with FSU's nuclear science faculty at leading laboratories around the world. They are developing fresh technology which address some of the most pressing questions about the nature of matter and energy, and they are competing in the pressure cooker of the international scientific arena.


FSU's Gamma Detection Array employs state-of-the-art photon detection technology and has been used to explore many aspects of the microscopic properties of matter. Some of the students and postdoctoral fellows using this device are pictured here.

FSU's Gamma Detection Array employs state-of-the-art photon detection technology and has been used to explore many aspects of the microscopic properties of matter. Some of the students and postdoctoral fellows using this device are pictured here.

Nuclear scientists educated at Florida State University are in intense demand in both industry and the research community, and the FSU Nuclear Physics Program is recognized as one of the world's leaders.

One-hundred forty-three scientists have earned their doctoral degrees at FSU Nuclear Physics Laboratory. Twenty-six percent are working in industry, 32 percent are employed by national laboratories or other government agencies, and 38 percent are employed by colleges and universities.

 

FSU's Gamma Detection Array employs state-of-the-art photon detection technology and has been used to explore many aspects of the microscopic properties of matter. Some of the students and postdoctoral fellows using this device are pictured here.

    

FSU nuclear physicist Dr. Larry Dennis (right, center) has collaborated with computer scientists at FSU and elsewhere to develop the large database technology necessary to digest the blizzard of data being produced be modern nuclear physics experiments. Above, Dennis and students Khue Quoc Ngo and Svitlana Mazurkova adjust the megacomputer array.

 

Since 1958, hundreds of undergraduates have been involved in research at the laboratory. These students have gone on to graduate studies in science and medicine and to employment in high technology industries.

 


Dr. Geoff Solomon (Ph.D. 1998) and Dr. Elizabeth Bartosz (Ph.D. 2000) are driving new innovations at CyTerra Corporation in Orlando. They are among the many FSU Nuclear Physics Program alumni making important contributions to the high technology economy.

 

Nuclear physics research at FSU is supported by the National Science Foundation, the US Department of Energy, and the State of Florida.