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2026 RHIC/AGS Annual Users' Meeting & RHIC Science Symposium
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US/Eastern
Anders Knospe
(Lehigh University),
Daniel Brandenburg
(Ohio State University),
Peter Steinberg
(Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Description
RHIC & AGS Users' Meeting & RHIC Science Symposium
May 11 – 15, 2026 · Brookhaven National Laboratory
■ Users' Meeting ■ RHIC Symposium ■ Keynote Speaker
| Monday May 11 |
Tuesday May 12 |
Wednesday May 13 |
Thursday May 14 |
Friday May 15 |
|
Users' Meeting
Workshops
All Day
|
Users' Meeting
Workshops
Users' Meeting
Poster Session
Afternoon + Evening
Users' Meeting
Plenary Session Begins
Afternoon
C-AD & STAR + sPHENIX run reports.
|
Users' Meeting
Plenary Session
Morning
Experiment status & highlights. DOE report
Users' Meeting
Plenary Session
Afternoon
Workshop summaries, EIC/ePIC updates and award ceremonies.
|
RHIC Symposium
Morning Session
Commemorating 25+ years of RHIC discovery science.
★ Keynote
11:55 AM
Prof. David Gross
“Reflections on RHIC”
Chancellor’s Chair Prof. of Theoretical Physics, UCSB
RHIC Symposium
Afternoon Session
Celebrating RHIC science and its lasting impact.
★ BSA Distinguished Lecture + Dinner
5:00 PM
Prof. Barbara Jacak
“Little Bangs at RHIC and the Big Bang at the Beginning”
Distinguished Prof., Dept. of Physics, UC Berkeley
|
RHIC Symposium
Morning Session
Completing the RHIC scientific mission
RHIC Symposium
Afternoon Session
Looking forward to decades of discovery at the EIC.
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2026 RHIC/AGS Annual Users' Meeting (Monday - Wednesday)
The Annual RHIC & AGS Users' Meeting will be held May 11–13, 2026 followed immediately on May 14 & 15th by a special RHIC Symposium commemorating the end of RHIC and celebrating 25 years of discovery. The meeting will highlight the latest results from the PHENIX, STAR and sPHENIX experiments and provide an outlook with the future programs at RHIC and the EIC. Workshops that will be held on Monday, May 11, and Tuesday, May 12, will enable more in-depth discussions of the following topics:
- Jets & Hard Probes
- Ultraperipheral & Electromagnetic Processes
- Nasa Space Radiation Laboratory
- Fixed-target@EIC
- AI/ML
- Baryon Junction & Stopping
There will be an in-person poster session on Tuesday, May 12, Plenary sessions will be held on Tuesday, May 12 (afternoon), and Wednesday, May 13. Reports on operation status from the sPHENIX and STAR experiments and highlights from PHENIX, sPHENIX and STAR experiments, EIC detectors, a report from the Department of Energy and award ceremonies will be held during the plenary sessions.
RHIC Science Symposium (Thursday - Friday)
The RHIC Symposium will be on Thursday, May 14 and Friday, May 15 with special speakers and programming to commemorate the end of RHIC operations, to celebrate the 25+ years of discovery science accomplished, and to kick-off the transition to the Electron Ion Collider Era as we look forward to decades more discovery science.
Keynote Speakers
Thursday, May 14th, 11:55 am
Prof. David Gross, Chancellor’s Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics UCSB - Presenting: "Reflections on RHIC"
Thursday, May 14th, 5pm
Prof. Barbara Jacak, Distinguished professor in the Department of Physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Presenting the 2026 Brookhaven Science Associates Distinguished Lecture: "Little Bangs at RHIC and the Big Bang at the Beginning"
+++
Event ID: E000007621
Note: This meeting falls under Exemption E. Meetings such as Advisory Committee and Federal Advisory Committee meetings. Solicitation/Funding Opportunity Announcement Review Board meetings, peer review/objective review panel meetings, evaluation panel/board meetings, and program kick-off and review meetings (including those for grants and contracts) are open to the public.
Support
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Workshop: AI/ML I - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 123Convener: Cameron Dean (MIT)
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1
Setup
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2
The EIC-Beam AI Collaboration: Preparing Machine Learning for the Electron-Ion ColliderSpeaker: Georg Hoffstaetter (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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3
Towards Foundation Models for Next-Generation Experiments at the EIC: A PerspectiveSpeaker: Cristiano Fanelli (College of William & Mary)
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09:55
Coffee Break
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4
SciBot: Your "AI Librarian" for Navigating RHIC’s Fragmented Institutional KnowledgeSpeaker: Ankush Reddy Kanuganti (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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5
AI Surrogate Modeling for Fast Simulation of the Hydrodynamic Evolution of the Quark-Gluon PlasmaSpeaker: Seungjun Lee (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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1
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Workshop: Baryon Junction & Stopping I - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 148Conveners: Chun Tsang (Kent State University), Chun Yuen Tsang (Kent State University)
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7
Current status of the baryon junctionSpeakers: Dmitri Kharzeev (Stony Brook University and BNL), Prof. Dmitri Kharzeev (Stony Brook University and BNL)
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8
Generalized parton distributions and their implications for observables relevant to baryon junction dynamicsSpeaker: Simonetta Liuti (University of Virginia)
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10:30
Coffee Break
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9
Probing gluon density via deep inelastic scattering, and its implications on baryon junctionsSpeaker: Prithwish Tribedy (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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10
Flavor-independent rapidity slope in baryon transportSpeakers: Zhangbu Xu (Kent State University), Zhangbu Xu (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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7
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Workshop: Fixed-target@EIC- SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 121 - 122Conveners: Agnieszka Sorensen (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Charles-Joseph Naïm (Stony Brook University (CFNS))
- 11
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12
Cross-section measurements for the interpretation of cosmic raysSpeaker: Philip von Doetinchem (University of Hawaii)
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13
Space, nuclear data, and an EIC fixed target programSpeaker: David Brown (NNDC-Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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14
Discussion
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10:30
Coffee Break
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15
Physics opportunities for a fixed-target program in EICSpeaker: Cesar daSilva (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
- 16
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17
Discussion
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Workshop: Jets & Hard Probes - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 124 - 125Conveners: Virginia Bailey (Georgia State University), Yeonju Go (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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18
Recent Measurements at the LHCSpeaker: Hannah Bossi (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
- 19
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20
Recent Measurements from sPHENIXSpeaker: Hanpu Jiang (Columbia University)
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10:25
Coffee Break
- 21
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22
Recent Measurements in Small Systems at the LHC and RHICSpeaker: Christopher McGinn (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
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23
Jets at the Electron-Ion Collider (Theory)Speaker: Felix Ringer (YITP Stony Brook University)
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18
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12:00
No Host Lunch
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Workshop: AI/ML II - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 123
Afternoon I
Convener: Cameron Dean (MIT)-
24
Variable Rate Neural Compression for TPC Data
Particle colliders produce data at extraordinary rates, posing major challenges for transmission and storage. High-throughput compression algorithms are therefore essential. In the sPHENIX experiment taking data at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, a time projection chamber records three-dimensional (3D) particle trajectories that are highly sparse, making conventional learning-free lossy compression ineffective. Convolutional neural networks have surpassed traditional methods in compression ratio and accuracy. However, they fail to exploit sparsity for efficiency. To address these gaps, we present BCAE-VS, a bicephalous convolutional autoencoder with variable compression ratio for sparse data, which adapts compression to input complexity through key-point identification and sparse convolution. BCAE-VS achieves higher accuracy and compression ratios than prior neural approaches while being orders of magnitude smaller. Moreover, its throughput increases with sparsity—a property not observed in other methods. Although it was developed for collider experiments, BCAE-VS readily extends to other sparse data domains, such as light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensing and 3D microscopy.
Speaker: Yi Huang (Brookhaven national lab) -
25
sPHENIX Foundation ModelsSpeaker: David Park (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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24
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Workshop: Baryon Junction & Stopping II - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 148
Afternoon I
Conveners: Chun Tsang (Kent State University), Chun Yuen Tsang (Kent State University)-
26
Measuring baryon production at HERA, and its potential on baryon junctionSpeaker: Gage Tustin (BNL)
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27
Probing the Baryon Junction at the CLAS12 ExperimentSpeaker: Wenliang Li (Stony Brook University CFNS)
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28
Finding the baryon number within the protonSpeaker: Spencer Klein (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
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26
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Workshop: Fixed-target@EIC - SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 121 - 122
Afternoon I
Conveners: Agnieszka Sorensen (Facility for Rare Isotope Beams), Charles-Joseph Naïm (Stony Brook University (CFNS))-
29
Physics opportunities for the QCD phase diagramSpeaker: Mikhail Stephanov (University of Illinois at Chicago)
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30
Probing the QCD Phase Diagram at the EIC: Modeling High-Baryon Density Fluids in the Fixed-Target RegimeSpeaker: Lipei Du (McGill University)
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31
Logistics of a Fixed-Target Program at the EIC: Lessons Learned from Previous FXT programsSpeaker: Daniel Cebra (University of California, Davis)
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32
Discussion
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15:30
Coffee Break
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33
Collaboration & Open Discussion
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29
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Workshop: Nasa Space Radiation Laboratory- SUSC Bldg. 101. Conference Room 121- 122
2nd Morning session
Conveners: Jessica Gasparik (Brookhaven National Lab), Trevor Olsen (Brookhaven National Laboratory)-
34
Introduction NSRL, Research Topics, Speakers
The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory is a multi-purpose beamline off of the AGS Booster at the RHIC complex.
For this workshop we showcase a set of speakers which span the broad user community the facility supports, including:- Radiobiology research
- Microelectronics survivability
- Nuclear data measurements
- Accelerator physics
Speaker: Jessica Gasparik (Brookhaven National Lab) -
35
Drug Adjuncts that mitigate the Molecular and Cellular impacts of Galactic Cosmic Radiation
Dr. Robert Schwartz is a physician-scientist at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York-Presbyterian Hospital whose work bridges medicine and engineering. Clinically, he specializes in liver disease, including viral and metabolic conditions. His research integrates stem cell biology with engineering methods to develop in vitro models of human liver disease, with the aim of advancing mechanistic understanding and therapeutic development.
Speaker: Dr Robert Schwartz (Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University) -
36
HEARTS and HEARTS++, the present and future of radiation effects testing with very-high-energy, heavy ion beams
Andreas Waets obtained a Master degree in Nuclear Physics at KU Leuven University in Belgium in 2016. He was a member of the Space Environment and Effects section at the European Space Agency between 2016 and 2018, working on plasma charging of spacecraft, radiation environment monitoring instrumentation and space mission concurrent design engineering. After ESA, he joined CERN as a Fellow working on Monte Carlo simulations of beam-matter interactions in the machine protection system envisaged for the High-Luminosity upgrade project of the Large Hadron Collider. Andreas joined the CERN Radiation-to-Electronics team in 2021, working on his PhD thesis titled "Ground-based research analogs for beyond LEO exploration." As of 2025, he is the laboratory manager of the HEARTS@CERN heavy ion radiation effects test facility.
Speaker: Andreas Waets (CERN) -
37
Machine Learning Assisted Tuning and Diagnostics of NSRL Beams
Eiad Hamwi is a physicist specializing in accelerator beam dynamics and simulation. He completed his Ph.D. at Cornell and is currently a postdoc at the collider-accelerator department at BNL. His current focus is on adaptive digital twins for robust control and inference.
This talk summarizes the recent efforts to build a digital twin to a mature beamline with diverse beam conditions and apply machine learning tuning to generate a uniform beam distribution.
Speaker: Eiad Hamwi (BNL) -
38
Nuclear Data Measurements in Support of NASA Planetary Science Missions
Dr. Patrick Peplowski is a staff scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, where he is in involved with the development, testing, and operation of gamma-ray and neutron spectrometers studying Mercury, Mars’ moons, asteroids, and Saturn’s moon Titan. He is also heavily involved in efforts to improve the precision and accuracy of the nuclear reaction cross section data that are used to analysis the datasets from these missions.
This discussion highlights a recent measurement at NSRL and how this data can be applied to a planetary spectroscopy mission.
Speaker: Patrick Peplowski (Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory) -
39
Close-out
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Workshop: UPC & Electromagnetic Processes- SUSC Bldg. 101 Conference Room 124-125
2nd Morning session
Conveners: Ashik Ikbal Sheikh (Kent State University), Ashik Ikbal Sheikh (Kent State University), Ashik Ikbal Sheikh (Kent State University)-
40
Session Introduction : Ultra-Peripheral CollisionsSpeaker: Gian Michele Innocenti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
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41
Measurements of EM-probes at PHENIX and sPHENIXSpeaker: Mariia Mitrankova (Stony Brook University)
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42
Measurements of Vector mesons in Ultra-Peripheral Collisions at STARSpeaker: Xihe Han (Ohio State University)
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10:30
Coffee Break
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43
Mirror Quantum Tomography for UPC and beyondSpeaker: Daniel Tapia Takaki (University of Kansas)
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44
Nuclear imaging efforts at EICSpeaker: Rongrong Ma (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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40
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12:00
No Host Lunch
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AUM Plenary IConveners: Evgeny Shulga (BNL), Hanna Zbroszczyk
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45
Welcome Remarks from the Lab Director
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46
Opening Remarks from ALD - Looking to the FutureSpeaker: Prof. Abhay Deshpande (Stony Brook University & BNL)
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47
C-AD ReportSpeaker: Travis Shrey (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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48
Group Picture
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15:05
Coffee & Poster Session
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49
STAR Run ReportSpeaker: Tristan Protzman (Lehigh University)
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50
sPHENIX Run ReportSpeaker: Ron Belmont (University of North Carolina Greensboro)
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51
Workshop Report: Jets & Hard ProbesSpeakers: Yeonju Go (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Yeonju Go (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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45
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17:00
Social Event & Poster Session
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Plenary IIConveners: Jim Thomas (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Lijuan Ruan (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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52
STAR Physics HighlightsSpeaker: Richard Seto (University of California @ Riverside)
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53
sPHENIX Physics HighlightsSpeaker: Tanner Mengel (University of Colorado, Boulder)
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54
PHENIX Physics HighlightsSpeaker: Iurii Mitrankov (Stony Brook University)
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10:15
Coffee Break
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55
DOE ReportSpeaker: Sharon Stephenson
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56
EIC, ePIC and the future physicsSpeaker: Salvatore Fazio (University of Calabria and INFN-Cosenza)
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57
Workshop Report: AI/MLSpeaker: Cameron Dean (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
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58
Workshop Report: Fixed Target @ EICSpeaker: Charles Naim (Stony Brook University)
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NSF Report (Cancelled)Speaker: Allena Opper
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52
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12:01
No Host Lunch
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Plenary IIConveners: James Dunlop (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Roli Esha (Stony Brook University)
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60
Workshop Report: NSRL
The NASA Space Radiation Laboratory is a fixed-target beamline at the RHIC synchrotron complex. Constructed in 2002 for NASA radiobiology research, the laboratory provides a range of heavy ions between protons and bismuth to a maximum rigidity of 15 Tm. Along with radiobiology experiments, the user community includes research in microelectronics damage, nuclear data measurements, and provides a mature beamline for accelerator physics applications.
The facility, which extracts beam from the AGS Booster, will continue to operate during the EIC upgrade.
Speakers: Jessica Gasparik (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Trevor Olsen (Brookhaven National Laboratory) -
61
Workshop Report: UPC & Electromagnetic ProcessesSpeaker: Ashik Ikbal Sheikh (Kent State University)
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62
Workshop Report: Baryon Junction & StoppingSpeaker: Chun Yuen Tsang (Kent State University)
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15:25
Coffee Break
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63
Sambamurti AwardSpeaker: Dr John Hill (Interim Director of Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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64
Merit and Thesis AwardsSpeaker: Prof. Abhay Deshpande (BNL, Stony Brook University)
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65
Poster Award and Flash Talk (TBA)Speaker: Prof. Abhay Deshpande (Stony Brook University & BNL)
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66
Thesis Award Flash Talk - TBA
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67
Thesis Award Flash Talk - TBA
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Business MeetingSpeaker: Prof. Daniel Brandenburg (Ohio State University)
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60
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RHIC Symposium: RHIC's Early YearsConvener: John Harris (Yale University)
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69
ALD for Nuclear and Particle Physics & EIC Science Director WelcomeSpeaker: Prof. Abhay Deshpande (Stony Brook University & BNL)
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70
T.D. Lee Memorial
Status of field before RHIC
Speaker: Shoji NAGAMIYA (remote) (RIKEN) -
71
The status of the field before RHICSpeakers: Axel Drees (SUNY @ Stony Brook), Axel Drees (Stony Brook University)
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72
Making RHIC Possible: Reflections on the MachineSpeaker: Thomas Roser (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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10:30
Coffee Break
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73
Spokesperson Talk: STARSpeaker: Timothy Hallman (Associate Director of Science for Nuclear Physics (2009 – 2024))
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74
Spokesperson Talk: PHENIXSpeaker: Prof. William Zajc (Columbia University)
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Spokesperson Talk: PHOBOSSpeaker: Gunther Roland (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
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Spokesperson Talk: BRAHMSSpeaker: Flemming Videbaek (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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RHIC Spin CollaborationSpeaker: Yousef Makdisi (BNL)
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78
Panel DiscussionSpeakers: Gunther Roland (MIT), Timothy Hallman (Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics), Prof. William Zajc (Columbia University), Yousef Makdisi (BNL), flemming videbaek (BNL)
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Keynote: Chancellor’s Chair Professor of Theoretical Physics David Gross - Reflections on RHICSpeaker: Prof. Prof. David Gross (remote) (University of California, Santa Barbara)
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80
Group Picture
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69
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12:20
No Host Lunch
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RHIC Symposium: The lasting impact & legacy of RHICConveners: Doon Gibbs (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Hannah Bossi (Yale University (US))
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81
The QGP as we understand it 20+ years laterSpeaker: Berndt Mueller (Duke University)
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82
Impact of RHIC on understanding the nucleon spinSpeakers: Jianwei Qiu (Jefferson Laboratory), Jianwei Qiu (Brookhaven National Lab)
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15:10
Coffee Break
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83
Impact of RHIC on the LHC (Science and social impact)Speaker: John Harris (Yale University)
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84
Reflections from past NPP Associate Laboratory DirectorsSpeakers: Abhay Deshpande (Stony Brook University), Prof. Abhay Deshpande (Stony Brook University & BNL), Berndt Mueller (BNL), Berndt Mueller (Duke University), Haiyan Gao (Duke University), Haiyan Gao (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Steve Vigdor (Indiana University @ Bloomington, BNL)
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81
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RHIC Symposium: BSA Distinguished Lecture & Banquet
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16:45
Refreshments
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85
Little Bangs at RHIC and the Big Bang at the Beginning
BSA Distinguished Lecture
Speaker: Barbara Jacak (UC Berkeley and LBNL) -
86
Host Dinner
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16:45
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RHIC Symposium: Completing the RHIC Scientific Mission
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87
Sam Aronson MemorialSpeakers: Doon Gibbs (Brookhaven National Laboratory), William Zajc (Columbia University), Prof. William Zajc (Columbia University)
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88
The Genesis of sPHENIXSpeaker: David Morrison (BNL)
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Completing the sPHENIX Scientific MissionSpeakers: Megan Connors (Georgia State University), Megan Connors (Georgia State University RBRC)
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90
Completing the STAR Scientific MissionSpeaker: Frank Geurts (Rice University)
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10:35
Coffee Break
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91
Completing the PHENIX Scientific MissionSpeaker: Yasuyuki Akiba (RIKEN)
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92
Completing the RHIC Scientific Mission (Theory Perspectives)Speaker: Dr Bjoern Schenke (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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93
Reflections on the success and impact of the RBRCSpeakers: Derek Teaney (Stony Brook), Farid Salazar (Temple University / Brookhaven National Lab), Megan Connors (Georgia State University RBRC), Naohito Saito (KEK - High Energy Accelerator Research Org), Dr Yacine Mehtar-Tani (Brookhaven National Laboratory), Yoshitaka Hatta (BNL)
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87
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12:20
Lunch (Hosted) - Compliments of BSA
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RHIC Symposium: EIC and the next 25+ Years of DiscoveryConvener: Prof. Daniel Brandenburg (Ohio State University)
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94
Scientific Origins of the Electron Ion ColliderSpeaker: Richard Milner (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT))
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95
From RHIC to EIC: Connections between RHIC and EIC scienceSpeaker: Rosi Reed (Lehigh University)
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15:05
Coffee Break
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96
Making the EIC possible, Machine perspectivesSpeaker: Sergei Nagaitsev (BNL)
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97
Lessons from RHIC in designing ePICSpeaker: John Lajoie (Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
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98
James D. Bjorken Memorial (remote)Speaker: Raju Venugopalan (BNL)
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99
Early Career PanelSpeakers: Gian Michele Innocenti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)), Zhoudunming Tu (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
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94
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