The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is the world?s energy frontier accelerator and together with the associated largest detectors ever constructed, will allow for the probing of the seminal questions in high energy physics. This proposal will provide a unique opportunity for early career graduate students involved in the ATLAS experiment at the LHC to be involved at CERN for the start of data taking. About ten high qualified students per year (a new set of approximately ten for each of three years) will be selected to receive travel awards affording them the opportunity to be present at CERN during the early running of the LHC, which is expected to start operations in the Fall of 2008. It is necessary for a complete education for graduate students that they be able to have hands-on experience in the operation of the experiment, and these prestigious travel awards will assure that the very best students from NSF core program funded institutions are able to have this once in a lifetime experience.
With regard to broader impact, the recipients of these awards will also further the goals of recognizing and attracting underrepresented groups to the sciences, fostering international exchange, and bringing the excitement of cutting edge scientific research to a younger generation as they bring back their experiences to their campuses, interact with undergraduates in REU programs and with high school students and teachers in QuarkNet and other programs.
This award has provided a unique opportunity for the very best graduate students from NSF supported institutions working on the ATLAS experiment at the LHC to participate in the initial data taking of the experiment. This has provided the first opportunity for these students to explore a new energy frontier and make seminal contributions to our understanding of elementary particle physics. The outrcome of these studies include the discovery of a new particle that is most likely the long sought after Higgs boson. There is no higher priority high energy physics question than this - as it is the final missing piece of the Standard Model of particle physics. In addition these students have had the uniqiue opportunity to interact with other students from all over the world. The award allowed them to relocate to CERN and to use their travel funds to participate in workshops and meetings that would otherwise not have been possible for them. This allowed them to forge international friendships that will last throughout their professional careers.These opprotunities would not have been possible without this support. Given the international aspect of high energy physics, these bonds will further US high energy physics in the future. Given the unique opportunities afforded by the startup of the LHC, this is an opportunity that will never be repeated for this generation of students. The net result is that these students have been able to have experiences that will serve them exceedingly well in their future careers.
