By: Tiffany Whitfield

Old Dominion University’s Andrei Seryi serves as the Governor’s Distinguished Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) professor in the Department of Physics. Recently he was appointed the co-chair of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) Accelerator Collaboration alongside Carsten Welsch of the University of Liverpool as part of a joint project with Jefferson Lab and partner-host lab Brookhaven National Laboratory.

The EIC is the new flagship project of the U.S. Nuclear Physics Community and a top priority as part of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) Long Range Plan 2023.   

“The selection of Andrei Seryi for this leadership position within the EIC project is another confirmation of the important role ODU faculty are playing in the realization of the next flagship facility for Nuclear and Particle Physics in the US, the Electron Ion Collider,” said Sebastian Kuhn, chair and professor in ODU’s Department of Physics. Dr. Seryi joins Dr. Sergei Nagaitsev, Jefferson Lab Professor in ODU’s department of Physics, who has been appointed as EIC Technical Director.

"Meanwhile, Dr. Charles Hyde in our Physics department is one of the leaders on the development of detector components and the Physics program for the EIC, while Dean of Sciences Dr. Gail Dodge leads the US Nuclear Science Advisory Committee which developed the 2023 Long Range Plan identifying the EIC as the most important new major construction project for the next seven years,” said Kuhn.

The EIC Accelerator Collaboration has national and international reach as it will benefit the EIC project, collaborating partners and accelerator experts. More importantly, the EIC Accelerator Collaboration will enhance the developments of the evolution, upgrades, and ultimate performance of the EIC facility. The collaboration kickoff meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 21, in Nashville, Tennessee as a satellite meeting at the IPAC'24 conference.