Sowjanya Gollapinni elected co-spokesperson for DUNE collaboration

This news story was developed by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to highlight the selection of Los Alamos physicist Sowjanya Gollapinni as co-spokesperson for the DUNE experiment, a leading-edge, neutrino physics experiment based at FermiLab.

Senior scientist Sowjanya Gollapinni has been elected as the new co-spokesperson for the international neutrino project, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Gollapinni, currently a scientist at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory, will succeed Mary Bishai, an experimental particle physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, who co-led the collaboration since 2023. Gollapinni’s two-year term began April 1.  

“Mary has done a wonderful job leading the collaboration over the last two years and she will continue to contribute her uncommon skills and drive to the success of DUNE Phase-I and to the realization of DUNE Phase II,” said Sergio Bertolucci, co-spokesperson of DUNE and professor of physics at the University of Bologna in Italy. “I look forward to working with Sowjanya to establish DUNE as the best-in-class, next-generation neutrino experiment.”

DUNE is an international flagship experiment to unlock the mysteries of neutrinos. Fermilab is the host laboratory for DUNE, in partnership with funding agencies and more than 1,400 scientists and engineers from all over the globe. 

With a focus on neutrino research, Gollapinni has been involved with the DUNE collaboration since 2015, in several scientific and technical leadership roles. Before moving to Los Alamos, Gollapinni was a faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s physics and astronomy department.

“It’s a great privilege to have been elected as co-spokesperson, and I’m honored at the trust the collaboration has placed in me,” Gollapinni said. "The next two years will be a pivotal time for DUNE, and I look forward to taking DUNE to the next stages of development as the collaboration gets closer to making this project a reality.”

She added “It will be a pleasure to work with Sergio. He has been critically involved in the experiment for a long time and has made foundational contributions to what we are now calling DUNE.”

Referencing the 2023 Particle Physics Project Prioritization Panel report, Gollapinni added, “The P5 report could not have supported Phase-I and Phase-II of DUNE any stronger. My focus over the next two years will be successful execution of Phase-I and building a roadmap for Phase-II to realize the full scope of DUNE.”

The infrastructure that will house DUNE is currently being built at two sites: Fermilab’s campus in Batavia, Illinois and a mile below the surface at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota.

Last year, LBNF/DUNE achieved a major milestone with the completion of excavation for the colossal caverns that will house the experiment’s far detectors. Since that time, workers have begun installing conventional infrastructure, such as lighting, electricity and fire suppression equipment in the space one mile underground in Lead, South Dakota.

“DUNE is a science experiment, but it is also a collaboration that is made up of people. We need to ensure the collaborators are successful in their science and research, but also in their careers especially early career members,” Gollapinni said.

On the collaborative nature of the experiment, Gollapinni said, “DUNE is very international. I value international partnerships and the commitments they bring to the table greatly. DUNE will not be possible without them. To me, DUNE would not have come this far if it were not for the incredible hard work and intellectual contributions of the people involved. So, the welfare of the collaboration is of paramount importance to me.”