Mike Sas received NWO Veni grant

Dr. Mike Sas, who completed his PhD at Utrecht University (UU) within the GRASP (Gravitational and Subatomic Physics) group, followed by a postdoctoral position at Yale University, and is now a CERN fellow, has been awarded the prestigious NWO Veni fellowship.

This fellowship will support his research at Nikhef, the National Institute for Subatomic Physics, which has a strong collaborative relationship with GRASP.

Dr. Sas’s research focuses on the properties of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP), an extreme state of matter. Despite numerous measurements of the QGP performed with the ALICE experiment at CERN, a precise measurement of its temperature has remained elusive. Dr. Sas aims to address this gap by using thermal photons and dileptons to obtain the first precise measurement of the QGP’s temperature. This measurement is expected to demonstrate that the QGP’s temperature exceeds the theoretically predicted phase-transition temperature.

Additionally, Dr. Sas will employ phenomenological studies with the advanced QGP simulation code, Trajectum, to further investigate the behavior of matter under extreme temperatures and densities. This research holds significant potential to enhance our understanding of fundamental physics.

Congratulations to Dr. Sas on receiving the NWO Veni fellowship, and best wishes for success in his impactful research endeavors.