Project Grant 2608460

The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York $340,881 on September 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to support the first year of the DarkSide-20K dark-matter detection experiment's transition from construction to scientific operation.

Columbia will develop and deploy detector control and safety systems, install cryogenic and calibration systems, oversee underground argon production in Colorado, and integrate detector subsystems at the University of Alberta and Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. These activities prepare the dual-phase liquid-argon time-projection chamber to search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) while preserving scientific goals of achieving world-leading sensitivity to dark matter interactions and other rare processes.

The award period runs through August 31, 2027, with place of performance in New York, New York. The project strengthens U.S. leadership in fundamental physics research while advancing ultra-sensitive detector technology, cryogenic systems, and low-radiation materials with applications to medical imaging, national security, and isotope production. No sub-awards are planned.