Dupage Policy Journal

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) met with Nigel Lockyer, director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, or Fermilab, last week in Washington to discuss the importance of continued federal funding for scientific research and development programs.

They met on the same day the Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to two scientists for their work discovering neutrinos.

“Today, I join Dr. Lockyer, the researchers at Fermilab, and the entire global scientific community in congratulating Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald on being awarded the Nobel Prize in physics,” Durbin said. “Their groundbreaking discovery on neutrinos fundamentally changed our understanding of the world around us. As the home to the Long Baseline Neutrino Facility – the world’s highest-intensity neutrino beam – Fermilab is now poised to be a global leader in building on their research and producing more groundbreaking discoveries. This is why it is so critical that we maintain our commitment to the scientific research taking place at our national labs. The discoveries they are making today will create jobs in the growth industries of tomorrow.”

The Long Baseline Neutrino Experiment is a primary focus at Fermilab. The lab's research focuses on mastering the nation's understanding of neutrinos and how neutrinos oscillate.

The proposed Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment – a collaboration of 148 institutions in 23 countries – aims to advance that understanding by studying the particles as they travel 800 miles from Fermilab in Winfield, Illinois, to an underground detector in South Dakota.

Fermilab is the nation’s premier high-energy physics laboratory that employs over 1,200 people, including physicists, engineers and computer professionals. The laboratory leads U.S. research into the fundamental nature of matter and energy. Fermilab is a world-leading laboratory in the study of neutrinos and very rare processes using existing and upgraded facilities.