Mohammad Adil Aman

Why FSU?

I was drawn to Florida State University as it offers graduate students opportunities to work in National Laboratories across USA such as Fermilab, home of the nation’s leading neutrino experiments, along with the chance to work hands-on with cutting-edge detector technology.

Motivation to pursue a graduate degree

I have always been intrigued by simple yet elegant experiments that reveal the fundamental principles of nature, and nowhere is that challenge greater than with neutrinos. Neutrinos are among the most abundant particles in the universe yet remain among the least understood, and the open questions about them are what drove me to pursue a graduate degree.

Importance and/or impact of research and work

I study neutrino interactions with the Accelerator Neutrino Neutron Interaction Experiment (ANNIE) at Fermilab, a gadolinium-loaded water Cherenkov detector that uses Large Area Picosecond Photodetectors (LAPPDs) with time resolution of tens of picoseconds and sub-millimeter spatial precision. With a water-based liquid scintillator (WbLS) vessel deployed inside the detector, each neutrino interaction produces both prompt, directional Cherenkov light and delayed, isotropic scintillation light, and the scintillation light can reveal hadrons such as protons that fall below the Cherenkov threshold. My research develops methods to separate these two components using LAPPD timing, track-based time residuals, and spatial hit patterns. This separation improves neutrino event reconstruction, particle identification, and energy resolution, and it is a key step toward the hybrid Cherenkov–scintillation detectors planned for next-generation neutrino experiments.

Who has been influential in your graduate journey?

My supervisor, Dr. Mayly Sánchez, has shaped my graduate work more than anyone. She has trusted me with real responsibility from the start, ranging from working hands-on with new photodetectors at Fermilab to presenting my research to international collaborations. Her guidance outside work has helped me in my journey of growing from a student learning the tools into an independent researcher.

Career aspirations

I plan to build a career in photodetector development, advancing technologies like LAPPDs for both fundamental research and real-world use. I want to apply fast-timing photodetectors to next-generation neutrino experiments and help uncover the remaining mysteries of these particles. I am excited by the potential of LAPPDs in industrial fields such as time-of-flight medical imaging and ultrafast photon science, where the same picosecond timing that improves neutrino detection can help improve how we see inside the human body and study light itself.

Advice for anyone considering graduate school

Pursue the research field that genuinely excites you and an advisor whose mentorship fits how you learn, because that combination will carry you through the long, uncertain stretches graduate research inevitably brings. Getting your hands on research problems along with your mentors and eventually presenting your work really helps you understand the field. Don’t be afraid to propose your own ideas. The most rewarding moments came from taking initiatives.

Accomplishments during graduate career

I am most proud of receiving the Universities Research Association (URA) Visiting Scholars Fellowship, which supported six months of research at Fermilab in 2026, and of presenting my DUNE work at three collaboration meetings at Fermilab, Santa Fe, and CERN. For DUNE, I developed an end-to-end simulation of LAPPD photodetectors in the gaseous argon near detector (ND-GAr) and showed that they can reconstruct neutrino interaction times with nanosecond-level precision. The URA fellowship is especially meaningful because it was the first time a research idea I developed independently was recognized and funded at the national level, marking my transition from a student following a plan to a researcher shaping my own.

Universities Research Association (URA) Visiting Scholars Program Fellowship, Fermilab (2026)

Organizations you are part of at FSU

Physics Graduate Student Association (PGSA): Member of the organizing team (August 2023–2026)

Bongonole: Member of the organizing team of FSU’s Bengali student organization, which shares Bengali culture with the campus community through events like the Global Café

Hobbies outside academics

Outside my laboratory, I find myself reading books and indulging into fine arts. My colleagues and I started a weekly soccer group that has grown into a close-knit community, a welcome reminder that life in graduate school extends beyond academic work.