Graduate student working at FRIB. Find out more

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) is a world-class research and training center, hosting the most powerful rare-isotope accelerator. MSU operates FRIB as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), with financial support from and furthering the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. FRIB is where researchers come together to make discoveries that change the world. They study the properties and fundamental interactions of rare isotopes and nuclear astrophysics and their impact on medicine, homeland security, and industry.

FRIB advances nuclear science by improving our understanding of nuclei and their role in the universe, while also advancing accelerator systems.

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In establishing and operating FRIB, capabilities were developed that transfer to other industries and applications.

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Nuclide chart with HRS Scientists' Headshots

FRIB hosts the world’s most powerful heavy-ion accelerator and enables discoveries in rare isotopes, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and societal applications like medicine, security, and industry.

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  • 10 October 2025
  • 2:00 EDT

Neutron-capture reaction constraints for astrophysical processes

The synthesis of heavy elements in the cosmos has proven to be more complex than originally thought. With advancements in observational astronomy and the addition of new signals from gravitational waves and pre-solar grains, new patterns emerge that are forcing us to re-think the classic picture of heavy element nucleosynthesis. In this talk I will discuss the complex contributions of different astrophysical processes to the synthesis of heavy elements. A particular focus will be on neutron-capture processes. I will present experimental results on neutron-capture reaction rates on short-lived nuclei and discuss implications on nucleosynthesis in massive stars and other stellar environments. The experiments I will discuss took place at Argonne National Laboratory and at Michigan State University using the SuN gamma-ray calorimeter. View event
  • 10 October 2025
  • 3:00 EDT

Single Bunch Instabilities at the Fermilab Recycler Ring

Understanding collective instabilities is essential for high-intensity operation of the Fermilab Recycler Ring. We apply the Nested Head-Tail (NHT) formalism to model single-bunch transverse instabilities with resistive-wall impedance, benchmarking growth rates and mode structures against PyHEADTAIL simulations and experimental measurements. The study also considers the influence of linear coupling and space-charge effects on instability thresholds. These results improve our understanding of naturally occurring instabilities in the Recycler and support the development of predictive tools for future high-intensity operation with PIP-II.
  • 14 October 2025
  • 11:00 EDT

From Hadrons to Quarks: Strong Interaction Matter at High Temperature

I will discuss lattice QCD results on the properties of strong interaction matter at high temperatures. I will show to what extent the properties of this matter can be understood in terms of hadrons up to a certain temperature and how quark degrees of freedom appear as the temperature increases. In a few examples, I will discuss how lattice QCD results help to understand the matter produced in heavy-ion collisions at ultra-relativistic energies and how lattice QCD calculations support the idea of the formation of a nearly perfect fluid in such collisions. View event
Training the next generation

FRIB at MSU is a world-class research and training center where students and researchers from all career stages and backgrounds come together to make discoveries that change the world.

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External news and journal publications discussing FRIB.

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  • 26 March 2025
  • Lansing State Journal

One of the nation's premier research facilities located at Michigan State University is getting a multi-million dollar upgrade. Late last month, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science approved $49.7 million for MSU's Facility for Rare Isotope Beams.

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  • 18 October 2024
  • Nature Physics

A team of scientists, including researchers from FRIB, published an article in Nature Physics on how research on neutron-rich nuclei shows that in the so-called islands of inversion, they are deformed rather than spherical in their ground states.

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  • 10 October 2024
  • Phys.org

Scientists and engineers at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) have reached a new milestone in isotope studies. They accelerated a high-power beam of uranium ions and delivered a record 10.4 kilowatts of continuous beam power to a target. The work is published in the journal Physical Review Accelerators and Beams.

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