Dr. Paul A. DeYoung oversees Hope College’s Nuclear Group, which is one of the longest running, continuously funded research programs at Hope. Student researchers in this group have a wide variety of options. The Nuclear Group plays a large role within two internationally recognized collaborations at the Nation Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory: the Modular Neutron Array Collaboration, which conducts studies of neutron-rich, ultra-short lived nuclei such as²⁵O和Summing NaI群，研究中子星并合和超新星中形成的核的结构。此外，核小组还负责与希望离子束分析实验室(Hope离子束分析实验室)的工作，该实验室是该学院自己的粒子加速器。与此设备的工作包括跨学科研究PFAS，晶体晶格的空缺，以及各种商业和研究材料的微量元素测量。

Since joining the Hope faculty in 1985, Dr. DeYoung has taught nearly every one of the standard physics courses with the exception of Statistical Mechanics (which he hopes to have the opportunity to teach in the future). He also has developed distance learning college physics classes as well as distance learning laboratories to accompany the lecture portion.

Since 2005 he has held an endowed chair as Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Physics.

Areas of Expertise

Dr. DeYoung’ current research includes:

• Structure of neutron-rich unstable nuclei
• Decay properties of rare r-process nuclei
• Ion beam analysis of materials using Rutherford Backscattering Spectrometry (RBS), Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE), Particle Induced γ-ray Emission (PIGE), Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA), and Ion Beam Induced Luminescence (IBIL).

His technical expertise includes

• LABVIEW programming for computer control of instrumentation
• Mathematical Methods in Physics (FFT, non-linear fitting, GUPIX, SIMRA, and GEOPIXE)
• Development of realistic simulations of physics laboratory experiments
• Construction of scintillating detectors for neutron and β particle detection.

EDUCATION

• Postdoctoral researcher, Nuclear Structure Labratory, SUNY, 1982–1985
• Ph.D., nuclear physics, University of Notre Dame, 1982
• B.A., physics and mathematics, Hope College, 1977
• Associate degree, science, Muskegon Community College, 1975

Selected Grants & HONORS

• “High Impact Nuclear Physics Research with Undergraduates” (3 years), NSF ($311,507), 2016
• Fellow of the American Physical Society, 2012
• Exceptional undergraduate researcher within the Natural and Applied Sciences Division at Hope College, 2011
• “MRI-Consortium: Development of a Neutron Detector Array by Undergraduate Research Students for Studies of Exotic Nuclei” (the lead proposal for a MoNA Collaboration request from nine undergraduate institutions totaling $1.2 million), NSF ($203,894), NSF ($203,894), 2009
• Prize to a Faculty Member for Research in an Undergraduate Institution, American Physical Society, 2001

Select Publications

• “β-Decay Feeding Intensity Distribution for^103,104mNb,”Physical Review, forthcoming
• “Neutron Unbound Excited States of²³N,”Physical Review, 2017
• “Search for Excited States in²⁵O,”Physical Review, 2017
• “PIGE as a Screening Tool for Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances in Papers and Textiles,”Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 2017
• “Neutron Correlations in the Decay of First Excited State of¹¹Li,” with J. K. Smith et al.,Nuclear Physics A, 2016
• “Population of¹³Be in Nucleon Exchange Reactions,”Physical Review, 2015
• “SuNSCREEN: A Cosmic-Ray Veto Detector for Capture-Reaction Measurements,”Nuclear Instruments and Methods, 2015

View Dr. DeYoung's other publications on hiscurriculum vitae.

Outside the College

Dr. DeYoung loves to go bass fishing, He plays the bass guitar with a praise band, and makes adaptive musical instruments and sensory devices for special needs children.