The Department of Energy Office of Science awarded William Marsh Rice University $600,000 on April 1, 2026, under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA 81.049) for experimental relativistic heavy-ion physics research. The award covers the period April 1, 2026, through March 31, 2027, with performance at Rice University's Houston, Texas campus. Rice University's Office of Sponsored Projects Division received the funding as a Project Grant, the standard assistance type for basic research in the physical sciences under this program. The Office of Science supports fundamental scientific research across its extramural portfolio of nearly 29,000 researchers at over 300 institutions and 17 DOE national laboratories nationwide.