Dr. Paul A. DeYoung, along with Dr. Belen Monteagudo, oversees Hope College’s Nuclear Group, which is one of the longest running, continuously funded research programs at Hope. Student researchers in this group have a wide variety of options. The Nuclear Group plays a large role within two internationally recognized collaborations at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams: the Modular Neutron Array Collaboration, which conducts studies of neutron-rich, ultra-short lived nuclei such as 25O, and the Summing NaI group, which investigates the structure of nuclei formed in neutron star mergers and supernovae. Additionally, the Nuclear Group is responsible for work done with the Hope Ion Beam Analysis Laboratory, the college’s very own particle accelerator. Work with this device includes interdisciplinary studies of PFAS, vacancies in crystal lattices, effects of radiation and space, and trace element measurements of a variety of commercial and research materials.