Blog

 

doc. dr. Lili Yang, Center za astrofiziko in kozmologijo, Univerza v Novi Gorici

 

I am a postdoc in the Center for Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Nova Gorica. My research is focused on the study of high-energy particles from the Universe, like cosmic rays, neutrinos and gamma rays, with an emphasis on their production, propagation and detection. The discovery of these particle messengers will answer fundamental questions related to the story of the Universe, such as the origin of cosmic rays, the nature of gravity and so on.

In 2008, I finished my Bachelor of Science at Nankai University in China. The same year, I started my Ph.D study at Arizona State University. In the beginning, I didn’t know which field I would like to work in or if I could be a researcher. Therefore, to have a better sense of what I want to do, I started my research rotation, joining a few laboratories for a short time, including particle physics, materials physics and biological physics, until I met my supervisor, who has a passion for neutrino physics. She not only enlightened me on the study, but also affected my career planning. More importantly, I realized that I love these tiny invisible particles a lot and would like to contribute to this field.

Therefore, after getting my Ph.D., I knew I desired to do more in the field and hoped to detect and analyze those interesting particle signals very much. Fortunately, I got the job offer from University of Nova Gorica in Slovenia, where I can personally observe the distant cosmic particles at the Pierre Auger Observatory and Cherenkov Telescope Array. Luckily, as researchers, we have the chance to change the scientific knowledge on the topic. We can teach respected scientists something they didn't know or even something they thought was wrong.