Bio
Marcel Demarteau is the Division Director of the Physics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In this role he leads a broad research program spanning studies of nature at its most fundamental level to the application of advanced detection technologies for national security. The Division hosts the LEGEND experiment that searches for neutrino-less double-beta-decay in Ge-76, for which ORNL is the lead laboratory. Two unique neutrino experiments are run out of the Division, the COHERENT experiment at the SNS currently the only experiment that has observed coherent elastic neutrino nucleus scattering, and the PROSPECT experiment at the High Flux Isotope Reactor, the only reactor-based neutrino experiment in the country. Strong collaborative research programs are run at FRIB at Michigan State University and with the CMS and ALICE experiments at the the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. A fundamental neutron physics beamline is managed and operated by the Division dedicated to research in fundamental neutron physics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. The theory program is world-leading in computational simulations of core-collapse supernovae, neutron star mergers and nuclear structure calculations. An applied physics research program complements the science program with unique non-destructive neutron and gamma-ray imaging techniques for nuclear non-proliferation and national security.
Experience
- Division Director, Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 2019 - present
- Division Director, High Energy Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, 2015 - 2018
- Senior Scientist, Argonne National Laboratory, 2011 - 2019
- Scientist 2, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 2001 - 2010
- Bijzonder Hoogleraar (“Adjunct Full Professor”), University of Amsterdam, 1999 - 2009
- Scientist 1, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 1996 - 2001
- Wilson Fellow (Associate Scientist), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, 1992 - 1996
- Postdoctoral Researcher, State University of New York at Stony Brook, 1987 - 1992
Advisory Boards, Committees, and Councils (current and selected)
- Member of the KEK Science Advisory Board, Tsukuba, Japan, 2025 - 2029
- Co-lead of the US Higgs Factory Steering Consortium, appointed by DOE-OHEP and NSF, 2024 - present
- Chair of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel for a fundamental physics program at the European Spallation Source, Lund, Sweden, 2023 - present
- Member of the International Committee for Future Accelerators Instrumentation Innovation and Development Panel, 2019 - present
- Member Chinese electron positron Collider (CepC) International Advisory Committee, 2018 - present
- Member BELLE-II Program Advisory Committee, KEK, Tsukuba, Japan, 2010 - present
Professional Service (selected)
- Member of the Helmholtz scientific evaluation committee of the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg, Germany, 2025
- Chair of the Phase 2 Upgrade Group (P2UG) for the CMS experiment at the LHC, 2019 - present
- Chair of the Fundamental Nuclear and Particle Physics at the ESS workshop, 2025
- Co-chair of the Southeastern Quantum Conference, 2024
- Co-chaired the first Quantum Sensors for High Energy Physics Workshop, 2017
- Co-convener of the ‘Quantum and Emerging Technologies’ task force of the 2021 Detector Research and Development Roadmap by the European Committee for Future Accelerators (ECFA), 2021
- Chair Electron Ion Collider Detector Advisory Committee at BNL, New York, 2011 – 2021
- Member Advisory Board of the Department of Particle Physics at Oxford, 2015 – 2019
- Member Particle Physics Projects Prioritization Panel (P5), 2013 – 2014
- Co-chair of the DPF Coordination Panel for Advanced Detectors (CPAD), 2012 – 2019
- Chair of the Scientific Advisory Panel for the Advanced European Infrastructures for Detectors at Accelerators (AIDA-2020) Project, 2015 – 2019
- Chair Detector R&D common task group for the International Linear Collider, 2007 – 2013
- Committee of Visitors for the Office of High Energy Physics for the program review of the fiscal years 2016 – 2019, 2020
- Co-convener of the Basic Research Needs (BRN) workshop of the DOE Office of High Energy Physics on HEP Detector Research and Development (R&D), 2019
- Chair of the ‘Quantum Physics’ panel for the review of the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, 2019 – 2023
- Chair of the Review Committee for the CMS Phase-II Tracker Upgrade at the LHC at CERN and member of the review of the CMS High-Grained Calorimeter upgrade, 2017
- Member of the Upgrade Cost Group (UCG) for the upgrades of the LHCC experiments, 2013 – 2016
- Co-convener of the ‘Instrumentation Frontier’ for the DPF Snowmass 2013 Community Summer Study, 2012 – 2013
- Co-chair of the DPF Taskforce on Instrumentation in Particle Physics, 2010 – 2011
- Chair of the Fermilab Wilson Fellow Committee, 2009 – 2010
Research Interests
Marcel Demarteau has done particle physics research at many different particle colliders with a focus on electroweak physics processes. He is pioneering the frontiers of particle and nuclear physics, exploring the mysteries of the universe through high-energy particle colliders and low-energy fundamental physics experiments.
With the exciting promise of quantum sensors and quantum technologies, Marcel Demarteau is leading the charge in quantum sensors for particle physics as a co-founder of the innovative Quantum Sensor and Emerging Technologies Collaboration at CERN. This forward-thinking initiative aims to introduce a new paradigm for detector technologies to understand particle interactions and open new pathways to discovery.
Currently, Marcel Demarteau's research focus includes the ambitious search for neutrinoless double beta decay using germanium, as part of the prestigious LEGEND experiment, spearheaded by the ORNL Physics Division.
He is also engaged in articulating the vision for a future Higgs Factory, a monumental project that could provide unprecedented insights into the fundamental building blocks of nature.
Education
- Ph.D. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Particle Physics
- M.Sc. Institute of Technology (Technische Hogeschool), Eindhoven, Physics