News article
Sussex researcher, Josh McFayden, whose work is "in search of a new force of nature” wins prestigious prize
By: Anna Ford
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 May 2021
![An image of Josh McFayden smiling looking professional](/broadcast/images/uploads/2021/05/13074.item.jpg)
Dr Josh McFayden
Dr Josh McFayden, a physics researcher at the University of Sussex, is the sole 2021 winner of the High Energy Particle Physics Group Prize from the Institute of Physics.
Josh is a Royal Society University Research Fellow working within the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex. He was awarded the prize for his contributions to electroweak physics at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva.
New measurements by Josh and his colleagues from the Large Hadron Collider into ‘lepton flavour universality’ may potentially overturn scientists’ previous understanding of the fundamental particles of matter, and how they interact with each other. If confirmed, these measurements could be indications of a new force of nature.
Dr Kate Shaw, from the school of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at the University of Sussex physics department, who also works with the ATLAS experiment at CERN, said:
"Josh’s work on the Large Hadron Collider has been outstanding, especially with regard to ‘lepton flavour universality’ in which we are arguably in the search of a new force of nature.Josh’s research also included developing a better understanding of the origin of mass. He did all of this work on the ATLAS experiment at CERN, which is the experiment within the Large Hadron Collider on which University of Sussex scientists wok.
This prize is awarded annually to an early career researcher for outstanding contributions to particle physics research. The prize is £500.