---
title: "Notre Dame QuarkNet Center"
chunk: 4/6
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_QuarkNet_Center"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:16:56.689192+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== I2U2 ===
In 2008, Tom Loughran was selected as Education Program Leader for the Interactions in Understanding the Universe (I2U2) program. This NSF-funded effort had been established by Marge Bardeen of Fermilab. Within I2U2, Loughran would spearhead the continuing development of e-Labs which had been used by other QuarkNet teachers nationally. Work on e-Labs became part of the summer research performed at the Notre Dame QuarkNet Center. The e-Labs were designed as a free resource that would link data and researchers from academic settings to high school educators and students. The e-Labs drew on work in cosmic rays, observations from the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment within the LHC, and data from the LIGO gravitational wave experiment. In 2009, Loughran sponsored a Notre Dame workshop for local teachers to showcase the new LIGO e-Lab. Physics teacher Mark Kirzeder of Marian High School stated that "It's going to be a neat application." Kirzeder would go on to become a QuarkNet teacher in 2010. He had taught mathematics at Mishawaka Marian High School since 2005 and would be appointed principal of the school in 2014.

=== ILC ===
In 2009, a group of Notre Dame faculty and local high school teachers and students developed a project to build muon tracking devices for the planned International Linear Collider (ILC) particle accelerator. According to Notre Dame professor Mitch Wayne, the Notre Dame high energy physics personnel had a long history of working with the calorimetry of scintillating fibers and made a natural fit to develop muon tracking devices for the proposed collider. The university was also part of the Muon Detector Group, an association of around 30 international and provincial universities and research facilities. The annual QuarkNet program was utilized to recruit students to work on building the muon tracking devices. Wayne expressed his view that local students would enjoy a unique learning experience and foster their interest in high energy physics.

== 2010s ==

=== Mitch Wayne ===
Around 2004, Randal Ruchti handed off the QuarkNet principal investigator duties to Notre Dame professor Mitch Wayne. Wayne had worked with the QuarkNet program for much of its existence and was instrumental in obtaining funds from the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. He has also worked with Ken Cecire to build and promote the physics Masterclasses offered by QuarkNet and CERN. These masterclasses allow high school students to work with real data from the CMS experiment at CERN and to build cosmic ray detectors.

=== Particle physics masterclasses ===
In March 2010, a QuarkNet international masterclass was held at the Notre Dame's Robinson Community Learning Center. Students form St. Joseph High School under the tutelage of Notre Dame QuarkNet teacher Tom Loughran attended the event. The St. Joseph students interacted via videoconference with students at the University of Vienna and University of Cincinnati along with moderators at Fermilab. The students collaborated on data from the Electron-Positron Collider (LEP), the predecessor of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Switzerland. According to Dan Karmgard of Notre Dame, the results would be statistically combined with the results from other students around the world.
In March 2015, a particle physics masterclass was conducted at the Notre Dame QuarkNet center for Adams High School physics students under the supervision of QuarkNet teacher Dan Walsh. The students analyzed Higgs boson data from the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Later in the week, the students participated in a video simulcast along with some international students. As mentioned in the March 22, 2015, edition of the South Bend Tribune, other area students, teachers, and Notre Dame faculty have participated in masterclasses and summer sessions offered by the Notre Dame QuarkNet Center.

=== Five-year funding ===
In 2012, it was reported that the University of Notre Dame received $6 million to support the QuarkNet particle physics program. The funding would provide for five years of operation. QuarkNet funding operates on a five-year schedule. In 2018, Mitch Wayne was able to secure $4.25 million in funds from the National Science Foundation to continue the operation of 52 QuarkNet centers across the United States. Professor Wayne also obtained three years of funding in 2023.