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Featured Researcher: Waly M Z Karim '26

About the Student Researcher

Major(s) and minor(s)

B.S. in Physics and Astronomy
Minor in Mathematics

Hometown - city, state, country?

Bogura, Bangladesh

Areas of interest

Computational Analysis
Observational Astronomy

Types of research positions

Volunteer | Summer position | During academic year | Virtual/on-site hybrid | Funded by a Schwartz Discover Grant

What's your research story?

Hello, I’m a Physics and Astronomy major, currently in my junior year. My area of research involves detecting and better understanding particles emitted from dying stars. When a massive star runs out of fuel to keep shining in our sky, it ends its life with a huge explosion and releases a kind of particle called neutrino. My job is to develop and test new ideas for improving detection of these neutrinos and understand their energy distribution. I work in the UofR group led by Prof. Segev BenZvi of the IceCube Neutrino Observatory collaboration.

Last summer, I also worked on a different project at California Institute of Technology that involved looking at how some specific types of stars become bright and dim periodically. I developed a machine learning algorithm that automatically detects the signal coming from stars whose brightness changes periodically and our eventual goal is to find as many of them as possible, especially in the low mass region. Finding such low mass variable stars will have far reaching consequences on our understanding of stellar structures. My PI for this project was Prof. Gregg Hallinan and my mentor was Rocio Kiman.

Apart from my academic interest, I am a huge fan of watching anime. I also love to play and watch cricket and soccer in my free time. Also, I love traveling, hiking, camping, and trying new cuisines.

In case you want to know more about my career track, here’s my linkedin:  

How did you initially secure your research position?

I secured my campus research position by cold emailing. Since I started doing research in my first week of freshman year, I emailed my professor even before coming to campus. Since the project is computation heavy, I made sure to mention my relevant skills and what I can bring to the table. Also, I emphasized on my interest in learning and asked a few specific questions about the project in the email. I also read a few papers before I attended the interview with my PI.

Departments/programs of research

IceCube Neutrino Observatory, U of R group

Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory, U of R group

Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology

Has your research experience enabled you to qualify for/apply to other awards or scholarships?

1. SURF Award, California Institute of Technology

2. Suzanne J O'Brien Book Award by Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society & UofR

3. Discover Grant

4. Continuing Student Scholarship, UofR

Any research presentations, awards, or publications?

1. American Physical Society (APS) April Meeting, 2024
2. National Conference of Undergraduate Research, 2024
3. Cool Stars International Conference, 2024
4. NYSS APS Fall Meeting, 2023
5. ÂÒÂ×Ç¿¼é Symposium for Physics Students, 2022

Article related to my on campus work: