Jayden Newstead visits CERN in Geneva, the site of the Large Hadron Collider, an experiment pertinent to his work.By Emma Schenk
The Berwick resident will move to America and complete his PhD alongside great minds, attempting to unlock secrets of the universe.
Graduating from Beaconhills College in 2005, he has been studying at Monash University in theoretical astro-particle physics, and is enrolled this year as a PhD student in the physics department at USA’s Arizona State University.
While in Pheonix, Jayden will work with renowned physicist Lawrence Krauss, director of the Origins projects, focusing specifically on dark matter.
It’s quite an achievement for a 23-year-old and a dream come true, but he admits there’s still a long road ahead of him.
“I hope to contribute to the scientific body of knowledge. It would be a great honour to know that I have helped in the human race’s quest to better understand the universe,” he said.
Jayden is excited to move to America where he will live with his fiancée Nadia, who is currently working in America on a project that aims to better understand photosynthesis using a free electron laser.
“Nadia and I met at Monash University, where she was studying her PhD in X-ray diffraction and nanoparticles,” he said.
“Her passion for learning and research has continually helped me strive for my dreams,” he said.
He also gains inspiration from other scientists.
“Minds such as Richard Feynman and Carl Sagan have also taught me to be open minded and to question everything.”
In America, he will continue his research into dark matter, a mysterious form of matter that cannot be seen or touched.
He said his research would be aided by new high-tech experiments that are underway to finally help scientists discover the true nature of dark matter.
“Dark matter makes up 83 per cent of the matter in the universe, meaning that everything we can see and experience accounts for only a small portion of the universe,” he said.
“This astounding observation has continued science’s history of showing us how insignificant the human race is compared to the universe.”
“The ultimate goal of my work is to reveal what these tiny particles are,” he said.
When he isn’t researching or studying, he enjoys basketball and surfing.
However, for now it’s almost all space and science filling Jayden’s life.
“I’ll probably branch out into the wider field of cosmology during my PhD studies,” he said.
“My long-term goal though is to return to Australia and obtain a lecturing position at a university here.”
