Danny Marfatia, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, was recently awarded a $400,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation for his work with neutrinos and fundamental particles. The award is the foundation's most prestigious for new faculty.

The five-year grant will allow Marfatia to study neutrinos, the least understood of the fundamental particles. The goal of his research will be to improve understanding of neutrinos, their role in the evolution of the universe and the physics applicable when the Big Bang occurred.

Marfatia's research will study how neutrino mass may be probed. Neutrinos interact weakly with other particles; therefore, little is known about how they interact with matter.The project will also attempt to find new phenomena inaccessible at particle colliders. Studying the interactions of ultra-high-energy cosmic neutrinos will help achieve this. The program will also analyze data and design future experiments on the topic and assess their potential.

The foundation's CAREER program supports the early development of teachers and scholars who are likely to become academic leaders of the 21st century. Award recipients are selected based on career development plans that creatively integrate research and education.