HESBURGH LECTURE SERIES 2013 Program - Alumni Association ...

Randal C. Ruchti, Ph.D.
Professor, Physics
Biography
Randy Ruchti is a professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, who specializes in
particle physics, detector development, and science education. Ruchti is involved with a major
experiment at the Energy Frontier, the CMS experiment at CERN (Geneva, Switzerland). This
experiment studies the top quark and search for evidence of new particles called Higgs bosons,
and for evidence for super symmetry and extra dimensions. These objects are thought to be
important to our understanding of mass and a connection between the quantum realm and
gravity. To study these systems, Ruchti has pioneered the development of optical fiber detectors
that have been utilized on several major experiments in the U.S. and Europe.
Ruchti is a co-founder of a National Science Education project called QuarkNet, which partners
high school teachers and students with research physicists working in the United States and
at CERN. Notre Dame renovated a building near campus to house QuarkNet activities. Ruchti
has been on the Notre Dame faculty since 1977, and is a recipient of the Thomas Madden and
Shilts/Leonard Teaching Awards. From 2004 to 2007 and from 2011 to the present, Ruchti has
served as a program director in elementary particle physics at the National Science Foundation
(NSF).
Lectures
Categories
Education, Notre Dame,
Science
QuarkNet: A Partnership of Research Scientists and High School Teachers and Students
There is a recognized national need to improve science teaching in our schools. QuarkNet, of which Notre Dame is a leading
institution, connects particle physicists working on forefront research experiments with high school teachers and students. The
teachers and students are recognized as collaboration members. Project goals include active participation in science research
for teachers and students, analysis of real experimental data, and the transfer of inquiry-based instruction methods into the high
school classroom.
Recipe for a Universe: Physics at the Energy Frontier
Particle physicists are studying the fundamental particles and interactions on which the universe is built. The presentation
focuses on a large experimental project, located in Europe, that hopes to advance our state of knowledge dramatically in the
current decade. A hand-held particle detector, pioneered at Notre Dame, is brought to the lecture, which shows visually three of
the fundamental elements of matter: electrons, photons, and muons. One of these devices is operating at the gallery, Exploring
the Universe, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
Support for Basic Research: A University Professor’s Perspective
Funding for basic research at the NSF must satisfy two merit criteria: intellectual merit and the broader impact of the research.
Both are essential for the possibility of successful funding of research projects. These can afford strong benefits to the research
community, and more broadly, our society in a variety of important ways, including innovations in technology, education, and
communications.
The Hesburgh Lecture Series, 2013 Program 89