Most people answer that matter is made up of elements, or atoms. Ask a particle physicist that question, however, and you will enter the spectacular world of fundamental particles.
Fundamental particles are the smallest particles in nature.
During the last thirty years, physicists have discovered that fundamental particles are strongly bound to one another within the protons and neutrons that are inside atoms. Called quarks and gluons, these are the fundamental particles of which everything is made. Ina Sarcevic, CoS professor of physics, conducts theoretical research to understand the interactions of fundamental particles. She studies the strong interaction forces that keep quarks and gluons bound, not allowing them to escape from the protons and neutrons. She also studies the neutrino, which is a fundamental particle with no electric charge and probably very little mass if it has a mass at all.