SuperCDMS

What is SuperCDMS?

The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search is a collaboration of 21 institutions from the U.S., Canada, Europe and India. Our experiment, named SuperCDMS was located in the Soudan Iron Mine in Soudan, MN for over a decade. We are now constructing an even more sensitive experiment that is slated to be deployed in SNOLAB, and underground laboratory in Sudbury, Canda. We go deep under the earth to shield ourselves from cosmic-ray radiation so that we can use our detector technology to "listen" for the passage of dark matter through the earth. Dark matter is currently believed to be a non-luminous form of matter which makes up 80% of the matter in the universe. Southern Methodist University is a member of the collaboration. Please find here more information about the experiment.

Opportunities at SMU

Prof. Jodi Cooley is the Principal Investigator for the SMU SCDMS group. She is a member of the SuperCDMS collaboration, which employs solid-state cryogenic dark matter technology. SMU is involved in several key aspects of current and future experiments, including: data analysis and analysis leadership, background characterization and rejection. Our group is also involved in the design of shielding for the next generation dark matter experiment that our collaboration is planning for deployment in the SNOLAB underground facility in Canada.

We are always looking for both undergraduate and graduate students with strong backgrounds in physics, math and computer science to help us with our data analysis and projects in our lab. We encourage applications for our graduate program.