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Postdoctoral Associate JaeBeom Park was recently awarded the from Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) for his work on the sPHENIX experiment. Park delivered the lecture, “The Final Mission of RHIC: Unveiling the Last Chapter of the Quark-Gluon Plasma with sPHENIX” to a packed audience at the BNL Physics Department on July 31, 2025.��

The lectureship was established “in memory of Aditya Sambamurti, a young high energy experimentalist working on rare kaon decays at the BNL AGS, who died in 1992,” according to the . The lectureship is awarded yearly for “outstanding achievement” to high energy or heavy ion experimentalist researchers within 20 years of their PhD, and includes a $1,000 honorarium.��

“I am honored to receive the Sambamurti Award and to have the opportunity to share my work with a broad audience, including many enthusiastic young students who are curious about science,” said Park.

After receiving his PhD from Korea University, Park joined the experimental nuclear physics group at �山���� in 2023, working closely with Professors Dennis Perepelitsa and Jamie Nagle on sPHENIX.

sPHENIX is a large detector housed at Brookhaven National Laboratory, designed to learn more about quark-gluon plasma — a state of matter that existed for a brief moment after the Big Bang. The detector collects data on millions of particle collisions per second from the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC).

Park delivers the 2025 Sambamurti Lecture. (Image Credit: Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Hundreds of scientists and engineers have collaborated on building and operating the experiment. The detector is about two-stories high, weighs 1,000 tons, and requires round-the-clock support in the control room during data-taking periods.

�山����’s experimental nuclear physics group is deeply involved in sPHENIX, with Nagle serving as Run Coordinator during the 2024 collision data-taking, and Perepelitsa serving as Deputy Spokesperson. And since 2023, Park has spent extensive time in person at the experimental site.

“JaeBeom was a regular fixture in the sPHENIX control room, and a particular expert on the trigger and readout electronics, the data acquisition system, and on critical checks of the data integrity. He was even the designated “on-call” expert for large periods of time,” said Perepelitsa.��

sPHENIX recently released its first physics results after three years of data-taking, setting the foundation to further explore the structure of quark-gluon plasma. The results lay the groundwork for future studies as scientists look to uncover properties of the early universe.

“JaeBeom has been instrumental in making three-years of data-taking at sPHENIX a success,” said Perepelitsa. “He has been making crucial contributions at a fundamental, technical level and really “living and breathing” the experiment.”

Park added “working on sPHENIX has been one of the most unique, challenging, and energetic experiences in my career. The Collaboration is full of passionate and dedicated people, and I’m constantly learning from them every day, especially from my group members from �山����.” ��