UofG Nuclear Physics Consolidated Grant

Physicists are firing electron and photon beams at atomic nuclei to crack open the fundamental building blocks of matter—quarks and gluons—and see how they stick together to form protons, neutrons, and entire nuclei. This research addresses a core gap in fundamental physics: we know quarks and gluons exist, but we do not fully understand the force that binds them into hadrons (like protons) or how that force governs the behaviour of nuclear matter. The experiments aim to answer two linked questions: how do quarks and gluons assemble into the particles that make up every atom, and what is the true nature of the dense, strongly-interacting material inside a nucleus? This is pure fundamental science. There is no immediate practical application—no new battery, no medical device, no grid upgrade. That is honest. But historically, understanding how matter works at its most basic level has led to unexpected technologies: particle accelerators now treat cancer, and nuclear physics underpins medical imaging. A deeper grasp of the strong force could, over decades, open doors to new materials, more precise nuclear models for energy, or even novel computing architectures. For now, the goal is knowledge itself.