Miguel Arratia, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at UC Riverside, has received the Guido Altarelli Award, which honors the memory of one of the founding fathers of quantum chromodynamics, the theory of the strong nuclear force. The award recognizes early-career scientists for outstanding contributions across a broad spectrum of fields in nuclear and particle physics.

Given annually in two categories, one for theory and one for experiment — with Arratia as the recipient of the experimental award — the award consists of a certificate and prize money. Arratia received the award at the International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects (DIS2025), being held March 24-28 in Cape Town, South Africa. 

Arratia received the award “for advancing jet studies in deep inelastic scattering and developing high-granularity calorimetry for the Electron-Ion Collider.” The Electron Ion Collider, or EIC, is a planned major new nuclear physics research facility at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. It will explore mysteries of the “strong force” that binds the atomic nucleus together.

At DIS2025, Arratia will describe his research that reveals the three-dimensional structure of protons and nuclei using electron scattering experiments. 

“My team has pioneered measurements in this area, proposed new types of studies, and developed algorithms that demonstrate jet tomography as a promising new technique for imaging protons and nuclei,” he said. “In addition, I will highlight my work advancing detector technology for future experiments at the EIC. We have designed, prototyped, and tested a range of detectors, including those capable of measuring the highest energies and smallest angles, which will be essential for future discoveries at the EIC.”

Before joining UCR in 2020, Arratia was a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, working at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He earned his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He completed his undergraduate studies in physics at Universidad Tecnica Federica Santa Maria in Valparaiso, Chile. Arratia has given several lectures about his work, a recent one of which can be found here.

Arratia’s work has been supported by the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, the National Science Foundation, the University of California Office of the President, and the EIC project through the Thomas Jefferson National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory.