SCIPP Particle Physics Masterclass 2025 was a great event!

Approximately 30 high school students joined scientists from the Santa Cruz Institute from Particle Physics for the annual Particle Physics Masterclass at UCSC on March 15. The educational event introduced students to special relativity concepts, data analysis techniques, and experimental detector technology. Jason Nielsen, SCIPP Director and Professor of Physics, highlighted the international nature of […]


New analysis from DESI announces a theory about the universe may need to be modified

Researchers at UC Santa Cruz, including SCIPP faculty affiliates Alexie Leauthaud, Constance Rockosi and postdoc Sven Heydenreich, are part of the team announcing a suprising new measurement of dark energy. The new results with the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) suggesting that dark energy, previously thought to be an elemental constant of nature, could be […]



SCIPP Scientists Publish New Study Connecting Supermassive Black Hole Formation to Self-Interacting Dark Matter

Under the guide of Professor Stefano Profumo, graduate student Grant Roberts and undergraduates Lila Braff, Aarna Garg, and Jackson O’Donnell have published a new study titled “Early formation of supermassive black holes from the collapse of strongly self-interacting dark matter.” The study aims to explain the presence of high-redshift supermassive black holes in the early […]