Nuclear Physics Boot Camp Preps Future Scientists

The metamorphosis of a student into a full-fledged scientist takes years, but the Exotic Beam Summer School helps accelerate--so to speak--the process.

In August 2007, 45 nuclear physics students from eight countries gathered at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University for the one-week Boot Camp to subject themselves to the transformation.

There, the students delved into the world of nuclei, the cores of atoms. The journey of nuclei begins at the cyclotron, an accelerator that speeds isotopes to up to half the speed of light. The nuclei flying out of the cyclotron smash into a target made of beryllium, resulting in millions of flying particles per second containing dozens of different isotopes.

Many nuclear physicists are interested in rare nuclei because they yield unique information from their perch on the edge of nuclear existence, including clues about the structure of these minute particles and hints that reveal secrets about the origins of the elements.