Weinberg Prof. Kristian Hahn will receive $750,000 in government funds to research how to create dark matter, becoming one of 49 scientists in the United States to receive this funding.

Hahn is conducting his research at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, and is receiving funding from the U.S. Department of Energy through the 2016 Early Career Research Program, according to a news release.

“The origin of dark matter is one of the most interesting questions in science,” Hahn said in the release. “The universe is filled with a vast ocean of matter we know almost nothing about.”

Hahn intends to use the collider to smash protons together at extremely high speeds to create dark matter. With recent upgrades to the particle collider, Hahn and his team hope to achieve this goal.

The Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program aims to aid U.S. scientists by providing exceptional researchers with support early in their careers, according to the release. The program is now in its seventh year.

“We invest in promising young researchers … to support lifelong discovery science to fuel the nation’s innovation system,” director of the DOE’s Office of Science Cherry Murray said in the release. “We are proud of the accomplishments these young scientists already have made and look forward to following their achievements in years to come.”

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