Black Hills State University has officially become an institutional member of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), joining an international collaboration of more than 1,500 collaborators representing 228 institutions in 38 countries and CERN.
BHSU physics faculty members Dr. Brianna Mount and Dr. Fred Schuckman led the University’s effort to become an institutional member of DUNE. The university was officially admitted to the international collaboration in October following a vote by the DUNE Institutional Board.
DUNE is an international scientific collaboration hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermilab. The experiment brings together scientists and engineers from around the world to study neutrinos, subatomic particles that could provide insight into fundamental questions about the universe.
BHSU supports underground physics research through the BHSU Underground Campus at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), where faculty and students conduct low-background counting to measure trace levels of radioactive materials. The measurements help researchers evaluate materials used in highly sensitive underground physics experiments.
DUNE also has a direct connection to the Black Hills. Its far detector will be constructed deep underground at SURF in Lead, South Dakota. The BHSU Physics Group is excited to provide on-site support to this effort, building on their expertise in operating the BHSU Underground Campus at SURF’s 4,850-foot level for more than a decade.
“Contributing to DUNE is a natural extension of BHSU’s long-standing partnership at SURF, and we’re excited to collaborate on this experiment that might uncover more fundamental truths about the nature of the universe,” said Mount.
“Our physics group has a strong history of contributing to dark matter research. We are excited to join the DUNE collaboration and build on this expertise while expanding our research efforts into the field of neutrino physics,” added Schuckman.
Through its membership, BHSU becomes part of the international network of institutions contributing to the planning and execution of the DUNE experiment. DUNE’s organizational structure also includes opportunities for younger members to take active roles in the collaboration.