Frank Strieder
Department of Physics
Education
M.S., Ruhr-University Bochum
Ph.D., Ruhr-University Bochum
Brief Bio
I received my M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany in 1996 and 2000, respectively. Before joining South Dakota Mines in 2015, I was a principal investigator for the Laboratory Underground for Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA), the first underground accelerator facility in the world, locate in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory in Italy. I have 30 years of experience working in different underground laboratories worldwide. Currently, I serve as the chair of the SURF User Association Executive Committee. I was chair or co-chair of several editions of the Conference on Science at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (CoSSURF) usually held every other year on the South Dakota Mines campus.
Research Expertise
Nuclear Astrophysics is a thriving and exciting field of research at the interface of nuclear physics, astrophysics, and particle physics. The field is driven by three major topics: quiescent nuclear burning in stars, explosive nuclear burning, and nuclear processes at extreme densities. These topics are interlinked scientifically but require the use of fundamentally different instrumentation.
My major research interest is associated with the first question, the nucleosynthesis in stars and its impact during stellar helium burning and on the production of heavy elements. The study of key reactions at stellar energies has been a major goal by the community, both in Europe and the US. However, the significant cosmic ray induced background on Earth’s surface has been prohibitive for advancing these measurements into the stellar energy range and often the present reaction rates rely on theoretical extrapolations that carry high uncertainties. Accelerator laboratory located deep underground offer unique conditions for measuring these reactions at low energies as demonstrated by the success of the LUNA facility at Gran Sasso, Italy.
Over the past decade, the CASPAR (Compact Accelerator System for Performing Astrophysical Research) laboratory at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) – the first underground accelerator in the U.S. – has produced scientific results. The facility operates a 1MV, high intensity, fully refurbished Van-de-Graaff accelerator. This accelerator is the major research instrument of my group at South Dakota Mines mainly operated by my graduate students. Current research is focused on the nucleosynthesis of the very first generation of stars in our Universe.
Teaching
Since the beginning of my employment at South Dakota Mines, I have taught a broad spectrum of different undergraduate and graduate-level courses. My undergraduate teaching portfolio ranges from introductory physics courses, several 200-level required and elective courses, to various upper-level physics courses. Additionally, I created, designed, and covered several graduate-level elective courses over the years. In the academic year 2024-25, I took over the organization and supervision of all introductory physics labs in the department. This duty is mainly a coordinating role of the large number of students from across campus. This task centers on modernizing laboratory instruction by revising experiments, updating instructional materials and equipment, and adopting contemporary teaching practices designed to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes.