Brad Plaster
Associate Dean for Research
College of Arts and Sciences
Professor of Physics
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0055
Email: brad.plaster@uky.edu
Office Tel: 859.257.3960

CV: [pdf]
June 2023


Awards and Honors

Research in Nuclear Physics

My research program is currently focused on precision measurements of neutron beta decay observables in the Nab experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and the search for the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Precision measurements in neutron beta decay probe fundamental parameters of the weak interaction and contribute to tests of the Standard Model of particle physics. A discovery of the Time-Reversal-Symmetry-violating neutron EDM would have profound implications for our understanding of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe and physics beyond the Standard Model. I have also previously worked in neutron beta decay at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and also in electron scattering at the Jefferson Laboratory, the Mainz Microtron MAMI, and the MIT-Bates Accelerator on measurements of the electromagnetic and weak structure of the neutron and proton. My Ph.D. thesis on a precision measurement of the neutron electromagnetic form factors at Jefferson Laboratory is here.

I have significant experience in leadership and management of complex projects at national laboratories. In particular, I served as the Level-1 Deputy Project Director (from 2020-2023) for the neutron electric dipole moment experiment which would have been conducted on the Fundamental Neutron Physics Beamline (FNPB) at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (i.e., the nEDM@SNS experiment). The nEDM@SNS experiment projected the world's leading sensitivity to the nEDM. Unfortunately, funding for the experiment was terminated in late-2023. My years of service as the Deputy Project Director provided me with valuable experience in leadership and large-scale project management at national laboratories. The position required constant communication with the scientific collaborators (~100 collaborators representing ~20 U.S. and international institutions), ORNL leadership, and Department of Energy and National Science Foundation leadership. Others are now leading an effort to realize this experiment at the European Spallation Source in Sweden. I strongly support these efforts to realize the new nEDMSF experiment, even though I am not involved at the moment.


Research Group

Current:

Postdoctoral Scholars: Dr. Felicity B. Hills (Ph.D., University of Michigan)

Dr. Felicity Hills holds a Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Fellowship, supported by the University of Kentucky's Vice President for Research.

Ph.D. Students: Prakash Adhikari, Rajan Bhattarai, Fahat Hossain, Richard McDonald, Sharia Sharmin

Richard McDonald holds the Keith B. MacAdam Graduate Excellence Fellowship in Physics and Astronomy, supported by a Department of Physics and Astronomy endowment fund.

Alumni:

Postdoctoral Scholars (Years. Subsequent Position):
  1. Dr. Haiyang Yan (2009-2011, Staff Scientist, China Academy of Engineering Physics)
  2. Dr. Alec Tewsley-Booth (2021-2025, Industry)
Ph.D. Students (Year of Graduation, First Position, Thesis Topic):
  1. Nima Nouri (Ph.D. 2016, Postdoc at Yale University, nEDM@SNS)
  2. Michael Brown (Ph.D. 2018, Data Scientist at Humana, UCNA)
  3. J. Ryan Dadisman (Ph.D. 2018, Postdoc at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, LANL nEDM)
  4. Alina Aleksandrova (Ph.D. 2019, Postdoc at California Institute of Technology, nEDM@SNS)
  5. Subash Nepal (Ph.D. 2020, Beta Decay)
  6. Lakshya Malhotra (Ph.D. 2021, Postdoc at University of Wisconsin, Beta Decay)
  7. Danielle Schaper (Ph.D. 2021, Postdoc at Los Alamos National Laboratory) [Prof. Christopher Crawford and Prof. W. Michael Snow (co-mentors), NOPTREX]
  8. Umit Coskun (Ph.D. 2022, Data Scientist at Intel, nEDM@SNS)
  9. Mojtaba Behzadipour (Ph.D. 2022, Postdoc at Virginia Commonwealth University, nEDM@SNS)
  10. Abel Lorente Campos (Ph.D. 2023, Postdoc at University of Chicago, Muon g-2)
  11. Jared Brewington (Ph.D. 2023, Engineer at Resonant Link, LANL nEDM)
  12. Piya Amara Palamure (Ph.D. 2023, Teaching Postdoc at University of Kentucky, LANL nEDM)
  13. Dillon Buskirk (Ph.D. 2024, Staff Scientist at Space Dynamics Laboratory, LANL nEDM)
  14. Rashika Gupta (Ph.D. 2025, Postdoc at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Beta Decay)
M.S. Students (Year of Graduation):
  1. Susan Malkowski (M.S. 2011)
  2. Syed Hasan (M.S. 2011)
  3. Grant Forbes (M.S. 2019)
  4. Joseph Bates (M.S. 2020)
I am always interested in working with motivated Ph.D. students.  Please contact me if interested.

Teaching

I have taught the following courses at the University of Kentucky:


Funding

I am grateful to the funding agencies and peer reviewers for current and past funding from:

Last Updated: November 12, 2025