National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory

MSU Cyclotron
The Cyclotron's location on campus
General information
Type	Cyclotron
Architectural style	International Style
Location	Science area Michigan State University
Completed	1963 (K500)
Dimensions
Other dimensions	2 cyclotrons
Design and construction
Architect	Black (1963) et al.
Website
NSCL Homepage

The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) is located on the campus of Michigan State University and is the leading rare isotope research facility in the United States. Established in 1963, the cyclotron laboratory is the nation’s largest nuclear science facility on a university campus. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation and MSU, the NSCL operates two superconducting cyclotrons. The lab’s scientists investigate the properties of rare isotopes and nuclear reactions. In nature, these reactions would take place in stars and exploding stellar environments such as novae and supernovae. The K1200 cyclotron is the highest-energy continuous beam accelerator in the world.

Currently, the laboratory's primary goal is to understand the mysteries that reside at the center of atoms, in atomic nuclei. Atomic nuclei are ten thousand times smaller than the atoms they reside in, but they contain nearly all the atom’s mass (more than 99.9 percent). Many of the atomic nuclei found on earth are stable atomically. But there are many unstable and rare isotopes that exist in the universe, sometimes only for a fleeting moment inside "cosmic cauldrons." Scientists at the NSCL work at the forefront of rare isotope research. They make and study atomic nuclei that cannot be found on earth—where they have long decayed into the known, stable or long-lived isotopes. Rare isotope research is essential for understanding how the elements—and ultimately the universe—were formed.

Today, approximately 10 percent of U.S. nuclear science Ph.D.s are educated at NSCL. The nuclear physics graduate program at MSU is ranked best in America by the 2010 Best Grad Schools index published by U.S. News & World Report graduate ranking.

The upgrade plans are in close alignment with a report issued December 2006 by the National Academies, "Scientific Opportunities with a Rare-Isotope Facility in the United States," which defines a scientific agenda for a U.S.-based rare-isotope facility and addresses the need for such a facility in context of international efforts in this area. Now, NSCL is planning for a significant capability upgrade that will keep the laboratory – and nuclear science – at the cutting edge well into the 21st century.