معرفی
Christopher Tunnell is an Associate Professor at Rice University with a joint appointment in Physics & Astronomy and Computer Science. He is also the William Marsh Rice Trustee Chair and runs the Astroparticle Lab, which is part of international collaborations like XENON100, XENON1T, XENONnT, and XLZD. His work bridges computational methods with experimental physics, focusing on dark matter and neutrino research.
- Education: BS in Physics (2008, University of Texas at Austin), DPhil in Particle Physics (University of Oxford)
His research addresses computational challenges in physics, including simulations, statistics, and machine learning for uncertainty quantification. The Rice Astroparticle Lab collaborates on the POLONAISE experiment (founded with the University of Leiden in 2024), utilizing quantum sensing for dark matter detection. He has contributed to major neutrino collaborations such as DUNE, SNEWS, nuSTORM, and SNO.
His work is funded by the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy. Recent recognitions include the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics (2016) and an NSF CAREER award (2021).
- Service Roles: Member of Rice's AI Committee and Ethical AI Subcommittee (since 2024); Ken Kennedy Institute's Faculty Advisory Board (2020–2024)
