washington dc a new report from a government committee chaired by texas a&m university physicist robert tribble has major implications for the future of us nuclear science tribble director of the texas a&m cyclotron institute oversaw the creation of the report accepted today (jan 29) by the us department of energy (doe)/national science foundation (nsf) nuclear science advisory committee (nsac) and now available online after being transmitted to the two agencies tribble served a 3-year term as nsac chair from 2006-09 and was asked in may 2012 by the current chair argonne national laboratorys donald geesaman to lead a subcommittee charged with examining the impact of different budgetary scenarios on the nations nuclear science program and how to maintain us leadership in nuclear science despite budgetary constraints condition critical tribbles subcommittee is advocating for a 16 percent increase per year in the does current nuclear physics budget of roughly $530 million annually an amount he says is necessary to prevent the us from losing its competitive edge in the field budgets short of that level of funding would result in a major reduction of capabilities in the us program if we dont invest in the fundamental-discovery sciences we might not be able to take advantage of the next major technological breakthrough said tribble after discussing the final report earlier this week with his 21-person committee if you look at history all of our technology now came from discovery science it was not science funded by anyone to make a product it was just ‘why is this happening tribbles advisory panel zeroed in on examining the future of three key national laboratories that are the backbone of the us nuclear physics program: brookhaven national laboratorys relativistic heavy ion collider (rhic); the thomas jefferson national accelerator facility (jlab) in newport news va; and a planned $615 million lab at michigan state university called the facility for rare isotope beams (frib) scientists in these labs are conducting research that could potentially be world-changing at brookhaven tribble notes researchers are studying a new form of matter that has similar properties to the kind that would have been around roughly 14 billion years ago just an instant after the big bang whats thought to be the earliest moment in the history of the universe nuclear to the core tribble a distinguished professor of physics and an international leader in experimental nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics joined the texas a&m faculty in 1975 he has served since 2003 as director of the cyclotron institute which represents the core of the universitys nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry program the institute which operates one of only four university-based doe-funded laboratories equipped with one of only five k500 superconducting cyclotrons worldwide serves as a major technical and educational resource for both texas and the us in addition to educating thousands of students in accelerator-based science and technology it brings in more than $3 million annually in external use and testing by companies such as boeing and lockheed-martin that rent time on the cyclotron for their own research projects beyond traditional research and teaching the institute also plays a vital role in the general universitys k-12 outreach undergraduate research and teacher-training programs helping to pave educational pathways and prepare young people for careers in the nuclear industry while building an informed knowledge base with the potential to shape future nuclear policy committed to serve at most american universities professors are tasked with a trio of primary duties: teaching research and service although the rigors of the first two often get the most attention faculty members quietly and routinely execute the third duty without any extra pay nor fanfare at texas a&m tribble is a perfect example his teaching and research credentials are exemplary he has been recognized with distinguished achievement awards in both respective areas and was appointed a distinguished professor the universitys highest academic rank in 2009 but he also has embraced service in addition to his recent work on the nsac subcommittee he has served on various other boards and committees including a similar nsac subcommittee in 2005 he currently is chair of the international union of pure and applied physics working group 9 an international committee of laboratory directors and he was the principal author of the 2007 long range plan which examined the future of us nuclear science i wouldnt be doing this if i didnt think it would make an impact on the field that im researching tribble said we have some problems and we need to try to find some solutions without spending time to do that its not going to happen donald geesaman current nsac chair and a former director of the physics division at argonne national laboratory said tribbles expertise made him a natural fit to lead both the group and the overall task bob tribbles name is the one that leapt to everyones mind to chair this subcommittee to deal with the implementation of the 2007 nsac long range under adverse budget conditions geesaman said first he had led an nsac subcommittee in 2005 responding to a similar charge and his work then was widely applauded second he was the nsac chair during the 2007 long range plan and was in a unique position to understand exactly what was in the plan finally his peers had elected him chair of the division of nuclear physics of the american physical society visible recognition of his high standing and leadership in the community we were fortunate that once again he was willing to serve resources and reference click here to read a recent usa today article featuring helpful background and links click here to read a jefferson lab summary of tribbles experiences as nsac chair learn more about the texas a&m cyclotron institute # # # # # # # # # # about 12 impacts of the 12th man: 12 impacts of the 12th man is an ongoing series throughout the year highlighting the significant contributions of texas a&m university students faculty staff and former students on their community state nation and world to learn more about the series and see additional impacts visit http://12thmantamuedu/ -atm- contact: vimal patel (979) 845-7246 or vpatel@sciencetamuedu or dr robert tribble (979) 845-1411 or r-tribble@tamuedu the post texas a&m physicists committee weighs in on future of us nuclear science appeared first on texas a&m college of science