Jesse Thaler named director of the Nuclear Science Laboratory MIT News

Professor Jesse Thaler has been appointed director of the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Science (LNS), starting Aug. 1. He succeeds Professor Bolek Wyslouch, who has directed LNS for the past ten years. Thaler is a particle physicist who combines techniques from quantum field theory and machine learning to answer outstanding questions in fundamental physics.

“In his research, Jesse has done pioneering work on particle jets at the Large Hadronic Collider and is a leader in integrating AI and machine learning with basic particle physics,” said Nergis Mavalvala, director of the MIT School of Science and Curtis and Kathleen Marble Professor of Astrophysics. “The collaboration of his research programs will serve the Nuclear Science Laboratory as science enters a new era of AI-driven discovery.”

Thaler is the William and Emma Rogers Professor of Physics at the MIT Center for Theoretical Physics – Leinweber Institute (CTP-LI). As of 2020, he has served as the first director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) AI Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions, or IAIFI, which was recently renewed for another five years. Mike Williams, professor of physics, will succeed Thaler as director of IAIFI. LNS is also poised to undertake new research projects through the Department of Energy’s Genesus Mission, which focuses on AI-enabled scientific discoveries.

“In my field of particle physics, researchers are developing high-level AI algorithms to handle flood data from collider experiments and perform theoretical calculations. This work has direct implications for discovering new physics, but the algorithms themselves turn out to be very valuable outside of our field,” said Thaler. “I’m excited to bring LNS into the next realm of discovery powered by AI-driven capabilities.”

At IAIFI, Thaler excelled in education and research at the intersection of physics and AI. Through the MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, IAIFI leadership has created a doctoral program in physics, mathematics, and data science. IAIFI has also created dedicated postdoctoral fellowships to give young researchers the freedom to pursue interdisciplinary work.

“Giving young scientists the space to build connections across fields, universities, and careers has been revolutionary within IAIFI,” said Thaler, who hopes to bring this type of framework to LNS. Established in 1946 to support nuclear and particle physics, LNS now includes research in cosmology, gravity, field theory, and quantum information science.

As the head of LNS, Thaler will also direct his home center CTP-LI, last year he received a donation from the Leinweber Foundation to establish a network of theoretical physics research centers. According to the Science Philanthropy Alliance, a non-profit organization that promotes science philanthropy, this represents the largest philanthropic commitment ever in the field.

Thaler received his PhD in physics from Harvard University in 2006, and his BS in mathematics/physics from Brown University in 2002. From 2006 to 2009, he was a fellow at the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at the University of California at Berkeley. He joined the MIT faculty in 2010.