PhD physics program kicks off
Today was the first day of school for a dozen students in South Dakota?s brand new physics doctoral program. The PhD candidates met at the Sanford Lab for a daylong orientation with faculty from three South Dakota universities. In addition, they met with Sanford Lab staff and with members of the LZ dark matter collaboration, which also is here this week.
The 12 students are divided equally between two schools. Six will study at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) in Rapid City, and six will study on the other side of the state at the University of South Dakota (USD). Black Hills State University physicist Kara Keeter, who is an adjunct professor at SDSMT, also is advising students.
The South Dakota Legislature and Gov. Dennis Daugaard approved the doctoral program earlier this year. Eventually, it will include 40 students.
USD Physics Department Director Tina Keller said today?s orientation was held at the Sanford Lab for two reasons. First, students from the two universities will attend classes together by videoconference, so today?s sessions offered a chance to meet face to face. Second, and perhaps most important, the doctoral candidates will focus on Sanford Lab research. ?The reason we have this program is, we?re building a facility here to do underground science,? Keller said.
Some of the program?s benefits for the state are obvious. ?South Dakota students can stay in South Dakota and participate in groundbreaking physics,? Keller said. In fact, nine of the 12 PhD students received master?s degrees in physics from South Dakota universities, in a program that was started in 2009. Sanford Lab experiment support scientists Dana Byram and Mark Hanhardt were among the doctoral candidates in today?s orientation, as were Chris and Angela Chiller, husband-and-wife doctoral students from Whitewood, S.D. All four are graduates of South Dakota?s master?s degree program.
Andre Petukhov, who heads the SDSMT Physics Department, said the benefits to South Dakota also could go beyond graduate education and research. ?This facility eventually will be a magnet for young, talented people and they will create new high-tech start ups,? he said.
South Dakota has prepared for the program by hiring four new physics professors?Joel Sander and Ryan Martin at USD and Alberto Lemut and Luke Corwin at SDSMT. As the program grows, four more physics professors will be added, Petukhov said.
Today?s first day of class also marks an important milestone for South Dakota?s participation in research at the Sanford Lab, Keller said. ?If we don?t do this South Dakota will always be the little kid with the nose pressed up against the window looking in to see what other people are doing,? she said. ?Without this graduate program, our faculty can?t really contribute to experiments in a meaningful way. You need students who have skills.?