U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar, leaders from DOE’s Brookhaven National Laboratory and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and elected officials from New York State and Virginia commemorated the start of the Electron-Ion Collider project.

The event was an opportunity for in-person and virtual speakers to voice their support for a one-of-a-kind nuclear physics research facility, which will be built at Brookhaven Lab over the next decade.

The 2.4-mile-circumference particle collider will act as a high-precision sub-atomic “microscope” for exploring the innermost three-dimensional structures of protons and larger atomic nuclei.

Experiments at the EIC will reveal how those particles’ fundamental building blocks are arranged, how their interactions build up the mass of most of the visible matter in the universe and uncover the secrets of the strongest force in nature.

“DOE scientists have been at the forefront of so many discoveries in nuclear physics,” said DOE Under Secretary for Science Paul Dabbar. “Thanks to the support of President Trump’s leadership, Congress, our Office of Science, and the State of New York, we’ve come together to create a one-of-a-kind research facility that is strengthened by collaboration with partners at Jefferson Lab and other national labs and institutions around the world. From the most basic components of matter to the farthest reaches of the cosmos to the next technologies that will drive the economy of the United States and the world, the DOE will continue this mission right here at Brookhaven and at our labs across the country.”

With a proposed budget in the range of $1.6 to 2.6 billion from DOE’s Office of Science and $100 million from New York State, the project will draw on expertise from throughout the DOE complex and at universities and laboratories around the world.