Abstract

NS3 is a summer school for undergraduate students that aims to introduce the participants to the field of nuclear science. NS3 will be hosted by Michigan State University (MSU) and will offer lectures and hands-on activities covering selected nuclear science topics. The school activities will take place at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and will include lectures by local and visiting researchers, nuclear physics labs, a tour of the facility, discussions with graduate students and faculty, and more. Nuclear Science is an exciting field that addresses questions like “what keeps nuclei together?”, “how does the structure of nuclei evolve towards exotic isotopes?”, “how do nuclei interact with each other?”, and “how were the elements formed in the cosmos?”. At the NSCL all these questions are investigated through the study of exotic nuclei, which often have a large excess of protons or neutrons compared to the well-known stable isotopes. These very short-lived nuclei are produced by the Coupled Cyclotron facility and are delivered to the experimental areas to study their properties or even determine their existence for the first time. NSCL Theorists interpret experimental data and develop theories that describe and predict the properties of atomic nuclei and how they react in collisions with other nuclei in the laboratory and in stars.