Open House 2022
The Nuclear Science Laboratory hosted a public open house on Saturday October 15th as a precursor to the Notre Dame vs. Stanford football game. Before the doors opened a public lecture on “The History and Science of the Notre Dame Nuclear Science Laboratory” was given by NSL director Prof. Dan Bardayan as part of the College of Science’s Saturday Science Lecture Series. Prof. Bardayan’s lecture highlighted the long history of nuclear research at the NSL from the 1930s to the present day, touching on interesting facts such as the involvement of the lab in the Manhattan project and the early accelerators in the basement of the La Fortune building.
A large number of Fighting Irish fans were able to tour the lab and see up close the accelerators and instruments that are used for research in nuclear science that span basic nuclear interactions to the creation of elements in stars and cosmic explosions to using nuclear techniques to trace toxins in the environment. Many participants were amazed at the scope of the facility that is right on campus and came away with an appreciation for the unique research that is being performed at Notre Dame.
Football fans were given tours of the labs accelerators and target rooms by current Notre Dame graduate students, introducing them to our current facilities and sharing insights into the life of an NSL researcher. For a more interactive feature, smaller scale experiments were scattered around Nieuwland Science Hall giving younger science enthusiasts a chance to interact with physics concepts with a hands on feel.