Projects Span Colliders, Neutrinos, Dark Matter, and Dark Energy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $132 million in funding for 64 university research awards on a range of topics in high energy physics to advance knowledge of how the universe works at its most fundamental level.

The projects involve scientists at 53 U.S. institutions of higher learning across the nation and include both experimental and theoretical research into such topics as the Higgs boson, neutrinos, dark matter, dark energy, and the search for new physics.

"High energy physics research improves our understanding of the universe and is an essential element for maintaining America’s leadership in science,” said Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar. “These projects at 53 different institutions across our nation will advance efforts both in theory and through experiments that explore the subatomic world and study the cosmos. They will also support American scientists serving key roles in important international collaborations at institutions across our nation.”

Projects include experimental work on neutrinos at DOE’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory; the search for dark matter with the ADMX-G2 experiment at the University of Washington and the LZ (LUX-ZEPLIN) experiment one mile below the Black Hills of South Dakota; studies of the nature of dark energy and the expansion of the universe with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) experiment at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona; and investigation of the Higgs boson from data collected at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland.

Other projects are aimed at further developments in particle physics theory, in advanced particle accelerators, and in new detector technologies, which scientists will use in continued explorations of the subatomic world.

High energy physics serves as a cornerstone of America’s science efforts. It plays a major role in nurturing top scientific talent and building and sustaining the nation’s scientific workforce. It also provides a deeper understanding of how our universe works at its most fundamental level.

This year’s projects were selected by competitive peer review under the DOE Funding Opportunity Announcement for Research Opportunities in High Energy Physics, sponsored by the Office of High Energy Physics (HEP) within the DOE Office of Science.

Total funding is $132 million for projects lasting up to four years in duration, with $43 million in Fiscal Year 2020 dollars and out-year funding contingent on Congressional appropriations. The list of projects and more information can be found on the HEP website under the heading, “What’s New.”

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