Drew University
Drew Particle Physics Group
We look for physics the Standard Model cannot explain. Our group builds detector monitoring systems and analyses data for the Mu2e experiment at Fermilab and for DUNE and ProtoDUNE, and undergraduates do the work alongside us.
What we work on
Three programmes, one question: what lies beyond the Standard Model?
Fermilab
The Mu2e experiment
Mu2e is looking for a muon turning directly into an electron and nothing else. Seeing it would mean new particles or new forces. Drew builds the online data quality monitoring system and works on particle identification with machine learning.
CERN and SURF
DUNE and ProtoDUNE
DUNE will send a neutrino beam from Fermilab through the Earth to detectors a mile underground in South Dakota, to study neutrino mass ordering and CP violation. ProtoDUNE at CERN proves the detector technology first.
Outreach
Drew QuarkNet Center
An NSF-supported centre that puts real particle physics data and portable muon detectors into New Jersey high school classrooms. Teachers receive a daily stipend for workshops and earn professional development hours.
A second strand
Physics education research
We also study how students learn physics. The group runs an empirical programme on confidence and calibration, misconception-targeted questioning, and structured practice before class, tested in our own courses at Drew.
Announcements
New students, publications, workshops, funding and awards.
June 2026 · In the news
Drew published Opening Doors to Discovery, a feature on how our undergraduates join international particle physics research.
April 2026 · Workshop
The Drew QuarkNet Center hosted the MINERvA Masterclass for New Jersey high school students and teachers.
January 2026 · Partnership
Drew entered a research partnership with CERN, opening ProtoDUNE work and the CERN Summer Student Programme to our students.
September 2025 · Student award
Andzani Mthenjane C’26 received a TEAM-UP Together scholarship from the American Institute of Physics.
At Fermilab
Our group works on site at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, outside Chicago.
Work with us
Every student in the group started without research experience. If you are curious about particle physics, that is enough to begin. We also welcome New Jersey high school physics teachers through the QuarkNet Center.
