EUGENE, Ore. — (Oct. 18, 2012) — The Higgs boson and other mysteries of the universe being explored at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will come into sharp focus at the University of Oregon on Monday, Oct. 29, when UO physicist James Brau presents the inaugural Presidential Research Lecture.

Under a new initiative, lectures aimed at general audiences by high-profile UO researchers will be presented each fall and spring as a way to share the excitement of faculty research with both public and campus communities. UO President Michael Gottfredson and Kimberly Andrews Espy, vice president for research and innovation, and dean of the graduate school, will help launch the new lecture program.

Admission is free and open to the public. The lecture will take place in Willamette Hall, Room 100, 1371 E. 13th Ave., beginning at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:45 p.m.

Brau, the Knight Professor of Natural Science, leads a team of UO physicists working on the ATLAS experiment at the LHC site outside Geneva, Switzerland. His lecture — "The Higgs Boson: Window on the Big Bang" — will examine how research at Earth-based particle accelerators aims to answer some of the questions posed by the universe. He also will probe other mysteries such as dark matter and dark energy, and delve into the structure, history and behavior of the universe.

Finally, in his 45-minute lecture, Brau will explain how information gained from such research could revolutionize our view of nature as dramatically as the advances of Einstein and other quantum pioneers over the last 100 years. His talk comes as international physicists continue to analyze the data to determine whether a particle that made international headlines when it was announced in July is, in fact, the Higgs boson.

The lecture will be streamed live on the Web through the UO Channel. A question-and-answer session will follow, in which viewers may submit questions through text messaging.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

Media Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu

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