Project Grant 2611595
- The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, operating as University of Nevada, Reno, $639,322 on June 1, 2026, to study nonthermal electron-driven warm dense plasmas using x-ray free electron lasers. The research creates and diagnoses warm dense matter—a poorly understood plasma state of high-density electrons and ions at relatively low temperature—formed under the influence of non-thermal electrons traveling at nearly...
- The National Science Foundation Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences awarded the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education) $194,696 on August 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to develop and test nanodiamond quantum sensors as diagnostic probes for low-temperature plasmas used in semiconductor processing and fusion research. The project will embed nitrogen-vacancy centers within diamond...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, doing business as University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), $119,976 on September 1, 2026, to analyze data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). UNLV will conduct collaborative research analyzing IceCube detector data to advance multimessenger astrophysics, including high-energy neutrino flux measurements,...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded The Leland Stanford Junior University $510,000 on February 1, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to develop plasma optics for compact ultra-high-power lasers. The project replaces conventional glass and metal optics inside high-power lasers with plasma components to enable control of light intensities one thousand times higher than current systems allow. The work addresses a fundamental constraint...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded the University of Maryland, College Park $200,000 on February 15, 2026, under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) to support guided laser wakefield acceleration experiments at the NSF ZEUS Multi-Petawatt Laser Facility. The award funds development and characterization of specialized hardware for experiments demonstrating high-power laser guiding in plasma over distances exceeding one meter, investigation of...
- The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, operating as University of Nevada, Reno, $418,028 on August 15, 2026, for theoretical and quantum computational research on cold polyatomic molecule collisions under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). The award funds development of rigorous theoretical methodology for predicting cold collisions of polyatomic molecules in external DC electric fields,...
- Federal Project Grant Award Summary The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences awarded $449,973 to the University of Nevada, Reno (Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education) under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) for a three-year project running from September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2028. The primary deliverable is fundamental research advancing knowledge of hollow ions—exotic ionized states with missing...
- The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Physics awarded the University of Nevada, Reno $567,152 under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049) on September 1, 2025, for a three-year project through August 31, 2028. The award supports theoretical research on laser-accessible thorium-229 isomer transitions in solid-state hosts. The project delivers theoretical frameworks and computational tools to evaluate isomer shifts, internal conversion rates, and...
- This $600,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Mathematical and Physical Sciences (CFDA 47.049) program will enable researchers at the University of Michigan to develop and characterize a charged particle-probe setup for making measurements of extremely large magnetic fields generated by laser-driven electron beams in plasma channels. The goal is to advance understanding of the crucial magnetic field dynamics occurring in laser-plasma particle accelerators, which have...
- The University of Nebraska was awarded a $480,000 project grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Physics under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). The three-year award will support research titled "HIGH FIDELITY FLUID-KINETIC HYBRID MODELING OF INTENSE, SHORT PULSE LASER PLASMA INTERACTIONS" from August 2021 through July 2024. The university will conduct research to advance understanding of major problems in plasma physics through developing...
The National Science Foundation Division of Physics awarded the Board of Regents of Nevada System of Higher Education, operating as University of Nevada, Reno, $4.497 million on August 1, 2026, for a three-year project grant supporting multi-institutional development of cross-facility diagnostics and advanced modeling capabilities for high-intensity laser science under the Mathematical and Physical Sciences program (CFDA 47.049). The project will mature a portable diagnostics and modeling suite for flagship experiments at national high-power laser facilities, including the NSF ZEUS user facility and a potential future NSF OPAL facility. Deliverables include artificial intelligence-based feedback control for high-power laser pulse optimization, virtual diagnostics within the OSIRIS particle-in-cell framework, focal-spot and intensity metrology using electron wavefront sensing with AI-based deformable mirror feedback, pre-pulse and plasma-mirror control, diagnostics for 10–200 GeV electrons, high-repetition-rate electronic proton radiography, and broadband X-ray imaging for high-energy-density science. The work is organized in six coupled thrusts deployed across multiple institutions to enable exploration of strong-field quantum electrodynamics regimes and support flagship campaigns in strong-field QED, dephasingless laser-plasma acceleration, and ultrafast laboratory astrophysics. The project will also train undergraduate and graduate students across six institutions through paid research experiences to expand the STEM talent pipeline for national security and scientific discovery. Period of performance runs from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2029, with place of performance in Reno, Nevada.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $4.5m | 7/28/26 |