Physics & Astronomy Colloquium: Prof. Graham Peaslee, University of Notre Dame

My research at Notre Dame involves applied nuclear physics, a broad area of physics that connects intimately with chemistry, geology, biology, engineering and environmental science. Using several basic tools of nuclear physics, my students have wandered far afield from classical physics topics, and several examples will be given. For these students, many things remain the same as basic nuclear physics, as this applied work also results in publications, presentations, grant applications and eventually PhD theses. However, the applied side of this research can often lead to areas that are less frequently encountered by physicists doing fundamental research. We find ourselves addressing societal issues like pollution and its public health implications, resulting in both positive and negative publicity and necessitating engagement with very diverse audiences. Some recent examples of these events from my group will be presented. Most students (and faculty) have little traditional training in these areas of media relations, public speaking and even debating - all skills that are usually very tangential to our research, and we mostly develop them only when the need arises. The first goal of this presentation is to provide a few examples of what we have learned from these "events" which can be used by all researchers to help communicate their work to broader audiences.

More recently, my research has also included applications that could have both societal impact and present a commercial opportunity. Historically, academia has struggled to traverse the gap between basic research and commercial development of products and processes. Despite encouragement from universities and funding agencies to seek commercial applications for our work, many academic scientists falter in this transition. While I am no expert in this area, I will describe the various aspects of the applied research my group has developed that will have some commercial applications, and how we have managed to navigate our way to the development of a start-up company in the past year. While entrepreneurship may not align with the aspirations of many researchers, the second goal of this presentation is to demystify the process, helping others to avoid common pitfalls and to recognize similar opportunities within their own research.