Nikos Varelas
Email Address: varelas@uic.eduCollege: Liberal Arts and Sciences Department: Physics
Title: Professor
Office: SES 2134 Phone: 312-996-3415
Webpage: http://www.uic.edu/~varelas
Participating in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards program: Yes
Research Interest:
My field of research is experimental high energy particle physics. Over the last two decades I have been conducting my research in two leading collaborations at the energy frontier: the CMS experiment, a collaboration of more than 3500 scientists from over 180 institutions in 42 countries at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, Switzerland, and the D0 experiment, a collaboration of about 650 scientists from over 80 institutions in 18 countries at the Tevatron Collider at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Illinois. My research in CMS and D0 has focused on studies of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), the theory that describes the strong interaction responsible for the nuclear force, on searches for more fundamental building blocks of matter beyond the quarks and leptons in the Standard Model, searches for large extra spatial dimensions, quantum black holes, dark matter, and searches for the Higgs boson and studies of its properties. My technical responsibilities are centered on state-of-the-art triggering systems for high energy physics experiments. Minimum time commitment in hours per week: 4 Qualifications of a Student:
Students will be selected based on their academic performance at UIC, employment and research experience, communication skills, and an interview. Preference will be given to highly motivated students who have high GPA and have completed at least PHY 141, 142, 230, and 240. Brief Summary of what is expected from the student:
The work is part of an international collaboration between UIC and other US and international physicists on the CMS experiment at CERN. The research project will involve working on data analysis geared towards understanding the properties of the recently discovered Higgs Boson and on performing studies related to the development of the Trigger Upgrade project for the next run of the CMS experiment. Students can opt to get credit for PHY 392, Physics Research. Honors students can opt to register for HON 225. Contact researcher via URE Email Webform
