Georg Bollen

University Distinguished Professor of Physics,
FRIB Experimental Systems Division Director

About

Education and training

  • MS, Physics, Mainz University, 1984
  • PhD, Physics, Mainz University, 1989

Research

My research interests are related to nuclear and atomic
physics with focus on the study of basic properties of
atomic nuclei very far away from the valley of stability. A
major activity in my group is the determination of the mass
of such rare isotopes, which is their most fundamental
property. An accurate knowledge of atomic masses is
important for revealing the inner structure of exotic nuclei
and to provide crucial tests for nuclear model predictions.
Atomic masses are one of the key information required
for the description of the synthesis of the elements in the
universe. An additionalresearch interest is the development
of new techniques related to manipulation of low energy
beams.

Biography

Grown up in Ramstein in Germany, I first attended the
University of Kaiserslautern for undergraduate studies
and completed my graduate studies at the Johannes-
Gutenberg University in Mainz. My PhD work pioneered
high precision mass measurements of radioactive isotopes
using ion trapping techniques at the ISOLDE Facility at
CERN. I worked for more than 8 years at CERN, including
4 years as ISOLDE Physics group leader. I came to MSU as
full professor in 2000.

How students can contribute as part of my research team

Students of the LEBIT research team led by Dr. Ryan
Ringle and me will be in the unique position to perform
research at the interface of atomic and nuclear physics.
Not relying only on the availability of radioactive beam
LEBIT provides year-round hands-on training and
research opportunities including interesting technical
developments aiming at reaching more exotic nuclei to
Additional research opportunities are in the related area
of beam physics at low energy.

Scientific publications