REU site: multidisciplinary underground science at the sanford underground research facility

Grant Award Summary

Black Hills State University (BHSU) received a $252,269 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Physics under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049), effective May 1, 2025 through April 30, 2028. This award funds a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site program centered at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The program recruits six undergraduate students annually to participate in a 10-week research experience focused on multidisciplinary underground science, professional development, and outreach activities. No subawards are planned for this grant.

Students participating in the REU program will engage in research spanning physics, chemistry, and biology disciplines. Primary research opportunities include assaying materials for radiopurity measurements, characterizing the LZ (LUX-ZEPLIN) dark matter detector, and performing environmental monitoring studies related to dark matter and neutrino physics experiments. Additional research components involve investigating microbial life in deep underground environments, characterizing microbial diversity, isolating novel microbes with applications to medicine and astrobiology, and conducting complementary chemistry research to characterize the local microbial habitat. The program delivers comprehensive undergraduate research training integrated with scientific inquiry into some of the nation's most significant physics experiments.

Abstract

Black hills state university (bhsu), in cooperation with the sanford underground research facility (surf) will host a 10-week research experience for undergraduates (REU) program centered on underground science at surf. This program will recruit six undergraduate students each year to participate in exciting underground research projects as well as professional development and outreach activities. Underground science offers possibilities for interdisciplinary research across a variety of disciplines including physics, chemistry and biology. Surf hosts and performs some of the most important physics experiments of our time, searching for evidence of dark matter and investigating the physics of neutrinos. Students will be offered the opportunity to engage in research related to these experiments by assaying materials for radiopurity measurements, helping to characterize the LZ detector and performing environmental monitoring studies. Additionally, research at surf is being carried out in the study of life deep underground, characterizing the diversity of microbial environments and in the isolation of novel microbes. This research has applications to medicine and astrobiology. Complementary chemistry research will also be performed to determine the local environment in which these microbes live. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.