Staff Writer

DeKALB | Susan Mini, chair of NIU’s Department of Physics, received a $1.4 million grant through the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation Program.

The grant is designed to improve the equipment for research and training in U.S. research facilities. The grant will go to upgrades to the Advanced Photon Source at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. APS allows Mini to conduct a team to build, design and install upgraded X-ray optics for the research facility.

“I feel fortunate to have received the grant,” Mini said.

Mini is an expert in spectroscopy and the application of synchrotron radiation techniques. Mini and her collaborators from the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Chicago are conducting research in the field of synchrotron radiation research. She attributes her involvement with NIU to many of her opportunities for success.

“Being at NIU has been a boon to my career,” Mini said. “I’m not sure I would have done as well at another institution. I’m very grateful to be here.”

The APS produces the most powerful X-ray beams in the western hemisphere, able to capture still photographs of proteins or moving pictures of molecules at the atomic level, among other things.

The circular-shaped APS is large enough to hold a baseball park in its center and houses a complex of machines and devices that produce, accelerate and store a beam of electrons.

Scientists apply for beam time at the APS through a competitive peer review process.