Graduate student working at FRIB. Find out more

Welcome to FRIB

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.

Research areas

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

Explore FRIB research areas

Capabilities

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

Explore FRIB capabilities
View all news
A graphic showing arsenic-73
A graphic showing the nuclide chart with the High Rigidity Spectrometer (HRS) Jie Wei

User facilities

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.

Explore FRIB user facilities

Learn more about upcoming events taking place at FRIB. 

View all events
  • 13 February 2026
  • 2:00 EST
Nuclear physics constraints on the Gamma ray signatures of core-collapse supernovae The long-lived Gamma ray isotopes observed in supernova remnants serve as direct signatures of the nucleosynthesis processes occurring deep within core-collapse supernovae. However, transforming these observations into a clear understanding of explosion dynamics requires precise nuclear physics input. A prime example is the 13N(alpha,p)16O reaction, which has been identified as a major nuclear uncertainty affecting the production of observable isotopes such as 44Ti and various neutron-rich iron-group elements. In this talk, I will present a new measurement of the 13N(alpha,p)16O reaction cross section performed at the CRIB facility (RIKEN). By employing the thick-target inverse kinematics technique with a high-intensity radioactive 13N beam, we probed the astrophysically relevant energy range of Ec.m. approximately 1.2–5.0 MeV. I will discuss our experimental approach and share preliminary results from this campaign, illustrating how targeted nuclear physics measurements provide the critical data needed to refine nucleosynthesis models. These results are essential for improving the interpretation of current Gamma ray data and enabling more accurate predictions for next-generation observatories, ultimately allowing us to use Gamma ray signatures as detailed probes of stellar explosion physics. https://www.cenamweb.org/events/online-seminar-series
  • 13 February 2026
  • 3:00 EST
Integrated Diagnostic for Mode Coupling in the Fermilab Booster The interplay between longitudinal to transverse dimensions is an emerging challenge at the Fermilab Booster. Beyond an intensity threshold, mode coupling instabilities can be excited which cause catastrophic particle losses. By combining new longitudinal and transverse diagnostics over the entire ramp, it is possible to measure coupling and create online and offline diagnostics to characterize instabilities and minimize losses in the Booster.
  • 16 February 2026
  • 11:00 EST
Ab Initio Nuclear Theory for Physics Beyond the Standard Model Today, physicists build massive detectors to capture the faintest recoils of nuclei colliding with neutrinos and dark matter (DM). These experiments aim to enable high-precision tests of the Standard Model and to search for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM). To meaningfully interpret such searches, accurate theoretical predictions of neutrino-nucleus and DM-nucleus cross sections are needed. However, these cross sections carry significant uncertainties, primarily because the nucleus is a complex many-body system composed of protons and neutrons held together by the strong force in a nonperturbative regime. Recent advancements in nuclear theory have made substantial progress in calculating nuclear properties and their responses to external electroweak probes. In particular, the use of chiral effective field theory in combination with modern computational tools, often referred to as the ab initio approach, provides the greatest promise for quantifying and reducing nuclear uncertainties. In this talk, I will first present an overview of nuclear response calculations for neutrino-nucleus and DM-nucleus elastic and inelastic scattering. I will then focus on recent progress in ab initio nuclear calculations that are advancing this frontier and enabling new insights into fundamental physics.
Training the next generation

Education & training

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.

Explore FRIB training

External news and journal publications discussing FRIB.

View all articles
  • 22 January 2026
  • Phys.org

Researchers have reported new experimental results addressing the origin of rare proton-rich isotopes heavier than iron, called p-nuclei. Led by Artemis Tsantiri, then-graduate student at FRIB and current postdoctoral fellow at the University of Regina in Canada, the study presents the first rare isotope beam measurement of proton capture on arsenic-73 to produce selenium-74, providing new constraints on how the lightest p-nucleus is formed and destroyed in the cosmos.

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-cosmic-rare-proton-rich-isotope.html
  • 20 December 2025
  • Phys.org

A research team at FRIB is the first ever to observe a beta-delayed neutron emission from fluorine-25, a rare, unstable nuclide. Using the FRIB Decay Station Initiator (FDSi), the team found contradictions in prior experimental findings. The results led to a new line of inquiry into how particles in exotic, unstable isotopes remain bound under extreme conditions.

https://phys.org/news/2025-12-beta-delayed-neutron-emission-rare.html
  • 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.

https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/news/local/campus/2025/03/26/msu-frib…