Jens Dilling

Jens Dilling is an experimental nuclear physicist and currently the Laboratory Director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility director since 30 June 2025.

Life Education Jens Dilling obtained both his undergraduate and doctorate degrees in physics from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. During his graduate studies, he did research at the GSI Helmholtz Centre for Heavy Ion Research and the ISOLDE Radioactive Ion Beam Facility at CERN.

Career Dilling began his career at TRIUMF in 2001, as an experimental nuclear physicist, eventually becoming associate laboratory director of physical sciences, where he was in charge of experimental and theoretical nuclear and particle physics, molecular and material science, scientific instrumentation, and scientific computing. His research focuses on characterizing the strong force using precise mass measurements, in particular investigating atomic physics techniques applied to nuclear physics using particle accelerators. In 2021, he became director of institutional strategic planning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he oversees the development of laboratory strategies, strategic investments, and annual planning. In 2023, he was appointed as the Associate Laboratory Director for Neutron Sciences at ORNL, overseeing the scientific and operation portfolio of the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS). He is a member of the German Physical Society, Canadian Association of Physicists, and American Physical Society.

Publications His most cited publications according to Google Scholar are:

Awards In 2012, Dilling was named a fellow of the American Physical Society. Dilling was awarded the Canadian Association of Physicists CAP-Vogt Award in 2013. In 2015, he was awarded the GENCO Scientific Achievement Award (membership award) of the GSI Helmholtz Centre and the European Exotic Nuclei Community. In 2017, Dilling was awarded the Francis M. Pipkin Award "for technical contributions and the use of Penning traps for the precise measurement of short-lived, radioactive nuclei such as halo nuclei and highly charged ions". Dilling received the Rutherford Memorial Medal of the Royal Society of Canada for "breakthrough discoveries in the field of experimental nuclear physics studying the fine details of the interactions of the atomic building blocks, the nucleons," in 2020.