Physics Professor Sabine Jeschonnek of The Ohio State University at Lima has secured a prestigious grant from the National Science Foundation valued at $98,551 to advance groundbreaking research in theoretical nuclear physics.
The grant will fund her research initiative titled "Electron and Neutrino Scattering from Light Nuclei," covering a three-year term running from 2026 through 2029.
“This grant is a testament to the high-caliber research conducted here at Ohio State Lima and highlights the exceptional impact Dr. Jeschonnek continues to make in the scientific community," said Dr. Margaret Young, Ohio State Lima dean and director.
This latest award marks another milestone in a distinguished career of scientific discovery. Dr. Jeschonnek is a repeat NSF grant recipient, having earned support from the organization since 2002. Her continued funding highlights her role as a leader in theoretical physics and underscores the foundation's sustained confidence in her research vision.
The project focuses on understanding how subatomic particles, specifically electrons and neutrinos, interact with light atomic nuclei. It will provide a framework for calculating relevant observables in either a collider frame or a fixed target frame and demonstrates how to easily relate them to each other. To improve on calculations that previously relied on traditional computational methods, Dr. Jeschonnek will incorporate artificial intelligence and modern machine learning techniques to model these scattering processes. Her work supports major U.S. experimental facilities, including Jefferson Lab and the future Electron-Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Lab, with applications spanning astrophysics, particle physics and homeland security.
“Understanding these fundamental subatomic interactions is essential because our theoretical models provide the critical baseline that experimentalists around the world rely on to interpret their data and advance the broader field of physics," said Dr. Jeschonnek.