Winter 2026 USPAS Session

Sponsoring University:

Michigan State University

General Information and Details

Location & Dates:

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
January 26 - February 6, 2026

Deadline Dates:

Application deadline for all attendees and deadline to submit scholarship supporting documents: October 1, 2025

University Credit Courses:

The following courses run in parallel so students may take one 2-week full course OR two 1-week half courses. One 2-week course is eligible for 3 MSU credits and each one-week half course is eligible for 1.5 MSU credits. If students take two one-week half courses they will earn 3 MSU credits.

Two-week full courses: January 26 - February 6, 2026

Fundamentals of Accelerator Physics and Technology with Simulations and Measurements Lab (undergrad level)
Instructors: Nick Evans, Vasiliy Morozov and Brandon Cathey, Oak Ridge National Lab
TAs: Garabito Ruiz, Trent Thompson and Shivam, Oak Ridge National Lab
In an effort to address the overwhelming demand for our Fundamentals course, we will expand the class to 50 students this session.

Accelerator Physics
Instructors: Stephen Peggs, Brookhaven National Lab and Todd Satogata, Jefferson Lab
TAs: Weijian (Lucy) Lin, Brookhaven National Lab and Ganesh Tiwari, TAU systems, Inc.
This class is limited to 20 students.

Synchrotron Radiation and Free Electron Lasers for Bright X-Rays
Instructors: Zhirong Huang, SLAC; Ryan Lindberg, Argonne National Lab; Siqi Li, University of Hawaii; Alex Halavanau, SLAC
TA: River Robles, SLAC
This class is limited to 20 students.

RF Cavity, Component and System for Accelerators
Instructors: Alireza Nassiri, Geoff Waldschmidt, Yawei Yang and Branko Popovic, Argonne National Laboratory
TAs: Timothy Suzuki and Jacob Brown, Michigan State University
This class is limited to 20 students.

One-week half courses: Each one-week half course is eligible for 1.5 credits from Michigan State University. Students who attend both weeks are elible for 3 MSU credits. At MSU, students are not required to attend both weeks to be eligible for credit.

Week one: January 26 - 30, 2026

Induction Accelerator Physics
Instructors: Josh Coleman, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Nathaniel J. Pogue, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Will Waldron, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
This class is limited to 20 students.

Mechanical Alignment
Instructors: Georg Gassner, SLAC
This class is limited to 20 students.

Laser Physics and Engineering for Accelerator Applications
Instructors: Shukui Zhang, Jefferson Lab and Patrick Inacker, Brookhaven National Lab

TA: Mingshu Chen, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab
This class is limited to 20 students.

Week two: February 2 - 6, 2026

High Current Electron Beam Technologies
Instructors: Josh Coleman, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Nathaniel J. Pogue, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; Will Waldron, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
This class is limited to 20 students.

Mechanical Vibration: Measurement and Analysis
Instructors: Jeremiah Holzbauer and Adam Wixson, Fermilab
This class is limited to 20 students

Vacuum Science and Technology for Particle Accelerators
Instructors: Alex Chen, Fermilab and Marcelo Ferreira, ESS
This class is limited to 20 students

Session Information

All participants are required to bring their own portable computer to access online course notes and computer resources. Windows, Mac, and Linux-based systems that are wifi capable and have a standard web browser and mouse are all acceptable. You should have privileges for software installs. If you are unable to bring a computer or cannot get installation privileges, please contact uspas@fnal.gov ASAP to request a laptop loan. Very limited IT support and spare loaner laptops will be available during the session.

U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens living in the U.S. may enroll for 3 units or 1.5 units of credit from Michigan State University. International participants living outside the U.S. may apply to attend the program and may request financial sponsorship but they may not earn credit from Michigan State University. International students requesting a scholarship who are not from U.S. visa-waiver countries must already be in possession of a visa that is valid for the entire period of the USPAS session. Scholarship students, whether domestic or international, must participate in all aspects of their course and are not allowed to audit.

Attendees must be 18 years or older.

The Registration Fee is $2,000.00 if your Application Form is received before October 1; after October 1, the fee is $2,500.00. The Registration Fee is $1,000.00 for participants attending only one week of the program. Please note: you do not have to pay the Registration Fee by October 1 - you must send in an Application Form before October 1. Information on how and when to pay the Registration Fee will be sent to non-scholarship students upon acceptance into the program. Group breakfasts and dinners are included in the Registration Fee (two-week attendees receive 12 breakfasts and dinners; one-week attendees receive 5 breakfasts and dinners).

A group block of hotel rooms have been reserved for USPAS participants at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel. To receive our discounted rate and negotiated perks, you must book your room through the link we send in your acceptance packet. Hotel rooms are available at the FY2026 U.S. federal government hotel per diem rate. PLEASE NOTE: in New Orleans, the government rate for January is lower than February and this school has one week in January and one week in February. This means you will have one hotel room rate your first week and a different (higher) rate your second week. A single room is available for $157.00/$179.00 + 15% tax + 1.75% tourism support assessment and a $3.00 occupancy fee per room per night. A double room (shared by 2 people) is $78.50/$89.50 +15% tax + 1.75% tourism support assessment and a $1.50 occupancy fee per person per night. A very limited number of rooms can be reserved at our rate 2 days before and 2 days after the School dates based on availability at the hotel. We do not control the availability or room rate outside the official school dates and those extra dates are confirmed by the hotel separately (and later) from our school dates.

Scholarships

Currently-enrolled university and college students as well as postdocs within 5 years of graduation may request financial support. To be considered for any of these merit-based awards, you must check the relevant application form boxes and submit supporting documents including: a cover letter explaining why the USPAS is important to your career and describing prior research experience, work with or as a user of particle accelerators; your CV/resume; one letter of recommendation.

If you submitted these documents for the winter or summer 2025 sessions you do not need to resubmit them for this application. We keep supporting documents for one year.

Students receiving any scholarship are expected to fully participate in all aspects of the course and must take their course for a grade/credit. International scholarship students may not enroll for host university credit, but they are expected to participate fully and may not audit. Students receiving housing support must share their hotel room with another student. Scholarships are open to both U.S. and non-U.S. residents. Consideration will be given to balancing class sizes. Applications in multiple scholarship categories are possible and prior awards do not preclude receiving support again.

Scholarship requests and supporting documents are due October 1, 2025. This deadline will be strictly enforced. Please email your supporting documents to uspas@fnal.gov

1. USPAS Scholarship

Covers the registration fee (includes 2 meals per day) or shared housing or both. This award does not cover travel. Students who choose the radio button "Shared hotel room, half board; registration fee" on their application form will automatically be considered for one of two enhanced scholarships:

Mel Month Scholarship for Accelerator Science and Engineering
Covers the registration fee (includes 2 meals per day), lunch per diem, shared housing and most travel expenses. The Mel Month Scholarship supports the study of Accelerator Science and Engineering (AS&E). Eligible scholarship recipients are actively-enrolled Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) students. A maximum of two scholarships will be awarded at each USPAS session. This scholarship is available to foreign and domestic matriculated undergraduate and graduate students and covers the registration fee (includes 2 meals per day), lunch per diem, shared housing and most travel expenses to and from the school session. More information on the Month Scholarships can be found at https://uspas.fnal.gov/about/about-month-scholarship.shtml
Sekazi K. Mtingwa Scholarship

Covers the registration fee (includes 2 meals per day), lunch per diem, shared housing and most travel expenses. The Sekazi K. Mtingwa Scholarship supports the study of Accelerator Science and Engineering (AS&E). Eligible scholarship recipients are actively-enrolled Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics (STEM) students. This scholarship is available to foreign and domestic matriculated undergraduate and graduate students and covers the registration fee (includes 2 meals per day), lunch per diem, shared housing and most travel expenses to and from the school session. More information on the Mtingwa Scholarships can be found at https://uspas.fnal.gov/about/about-mtingwa-scholarship.shtml

2. APS Division of Physics of Beams Travel Awards

Covers travel to and from the session. Reimbursable for actual expenses up to a limit. The Division of Physics of Beams of the American Physical Society is offering a limited number of travel scholarships to USPAS students. Applicants must be members of the APS DPB unit (if you are not already a member of the APS and DPB unit, you must join before requesting the award; student membership is free for the first year). The travel award amount is limited to expenses up to $750.00 with all receipts required. You can enroll for DPB membership at https://www.aps.org/membership/ and more details on eligibility and the selection criteria can be found at DPB Scholarship Details.

Application deadline for all attendees and deadline for scholarship supporting documents: October 1, 2025
Please email your scholarship documents to uspas@fnal.gov

Programs