How long have you been working in sPHENIX and at what institution?
I joined the sPHENIX Collaboration in February 2025 as a postdoctoral researcher at City University of New York (CUNY), under Prof. Stefan Bathe. I moved to Long Island a month after joining, so it’s been almost 8 months since I became part of the Collaboration.
What is the focus of your work on the sPHENIX experiment? What is the title of your Ph.D. or tentative title?
My Ph.D. thesis was in ALICE experiment and titled “Two-particle angular correlation functions of neutral and charged kaons in Pb–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV with the ALICE experiment at the LHC ”. I joined sPHENIX for postdoctoral research and I have worked majorly on calorimeters.
This has been an exciting opportunity to work closely with the detector and gain hands-on experience with its operation and calibration. I greatly value both the learning experience and the strong sense of camaraderie within the collaboration.
I have contributed to the calorimeter expert shifts and am actively involved in finalizing the Hadronic Calorimeter calibration for the 2024 data, while also preparing the calibration for the 2025 run. In the longer term, my goal is to focus on jet physics analyses.
Where did you grow up and what is your educational background before your current position?
I grew up in a small village in Kerala, a state in southern India. After finishing school, I moved to Punjab, a northern Indian state as I got selected to do a five-year integrated BS–MS program at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Mohali. I specialized in physics during the final two years of the program. After finishing, I moved to the United States for graduate studies and received my Ph.D. in experimental high-energy nuclear physics from the University of Houston in December 2024. My current postdoctoral position at CUNY is my first post-doctoral research role.
Awards or biggest talk highlight?
One achievement that feels special to me, though not a big one, is earning a perfect 10.0 GPA during my undergraduate program after majoring in physics. I received an award for this and was the only student to achieve it that year. Another highlight later in my research career was having my results approved within the ALICE Collaboration for Strangeness in Quark Matter (SQM) 2024 conference, very close to my Ph.D. defense.
How did you decide to go into heavy ion or spin research?
Interestingly, my path into physics began with a quantum chemistry course during my undergraduate studies. It was challenging, but it made me curious to learn more about quantum nature of matter. To explore it more broadly, I chose physics as my major, also because it was an “all in one” field that connects multiple areas of science. Over time, my interests evolved toward the intersection of condensed matter and particle physics, which eventually led me into the world of heavy-ion research.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy a variety of activities—listening to music, traveling, photography and playing badminton are among my favorites. I also love going to the gym and working out, a habit I developed during the final year of my Ph.D.
Fun fact?
I like living on the edge—it’s not always the safest path, but the experiences are worth the risk.