After over 10 years at the helm of the Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS), Bolek Wyslouch will step down to continue his nuclear physics research as the director of the Bates Research and Engineering Center, a subgroup of LNS. "LNS scientists, including Bolek himself, are world leaders in particle and nuclear physics," says Nergis Mavalvala, dean of the MIT School of Science. During his tenure, Wyslouch has significantly increased the laboratory's research volume, reflecting expansion in various areas of nuclear and particle physics, supporting several new faculty members.
His vision was crucial in introducing low-energy nuclear physics as a major new research area for the lab, which had not been previously engaged. Rick Peterson, the lab's executive director, noted, "The leadership to inspire this capacity growth brought in young and vibrant faculty research groups, which helped lead to the expansion in LNS research volume."
Recently, LNS is competing for bids for the Department of Energy's Genesis mission, a potential funding source in the AI era. Under Wyslouch's leadership, LNS successfully bid for the National Science Foundation-funded AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, supporting over 25 senior researchers in physics and AI at MIT and partner universities.
Last year, LNS's Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) also received a $20 million gift from the Simons Foundation to establish the Simons Institute.
Wyslouch also cultivated a culture where each individual is valued for their contributions, developing new pathways for postdoc support. He has overseen a range of complex engineering and scientific projects, including developing advanced particle detectors for major international research facilities like CERN, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Jefferson Lab.
In his own research, Wyslouch is a founder and leader of the relativistic heavy ion program in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). He studies interactions between subatomic particles through energetic collisions of heavy ions. His CMS team discovered strong collective effects in ion-ion collisions, as well as phenomena in proton-proton and proton-ion collisions.
After completing his undergraduate work in physics at the University of Warsaw in 1981, Wyslouch joined MIT as a doctoral student and earned his PhD in 1987. He joined the MIT Department of Physics in 1991 and has served as the head of the Nuclear and Particle Physics Division since 2013. Wyslouch was awarded the William W. Beecroft Teaching Prize in 2004 for his contributions to education at MIT, elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2013, and elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024.
Blogger's Review: Wyslouch's resignation marks the end of an era for LNS, as his contributions to nuclear physics research and mentorship of young scientists are invaluable. His leadership and innovative approach have undoubtedly laid a foundation for the future of nuclear physics, and we look forward to his new achievements at Bates Center that will continue to push the boundaries of science.