After all, science is essentially international, and it is only through lack of the historical sense that national qualities have been attributed to it.
Marie Skłodowska-Curie

Science makes people reach selflessly for truth and objectivity; it teaches people to accept reality, with wonder and admiration, not to mention the deep awe and joy that the natural order of things brings to the true scientist.
Lise Meitner

# Projects

#### Studying the proton spin structure with STAR

How the spin of a nucleon arises from the spins and orbital angular momenta of quarks and gluons? This fundamental question in hadron physics remains not completely answered. Experiments with polarized proton-proton collisions can bring us closer to the comprehensive understanding of the internal spin structure of matter.

#### Searching for EDMs of charged hadrons with JEDI

The origin of the matter-antimatter imbalance in the universe is one of the grand puzzles of modern physics. Searches for Electric Dipole Moments of charged hadrons within the JEDI collaboration can shed the light on the new sources on the CP-symmetry violation which could explain the observed preponderance of matter in our world.

#### Diffractive interaction of protons at CDF

Central exclusive production processes are characterized by large regions in forward rapidity devoid of hadrons, and a centrally produced state, in our case pairs of charged mesons. This class of reactions measured at TeV energies has an important role in meson spectroscopy, favoring states having valence gluons, such as glueballs.

#### Probing symmetry between u and d quarks with WASA

The fact that up and down quarks have slightly different masses has quite some impact on our existence, resulting in proton being heavier then neutron, and therefore stable. Net effects of quark-mass differences can be studied in hadronic reactions, e.g., in the reaction measured with the WASA-at-COSY experiment.

# Experience

July 2018 – Present
Berkeley, USA

#### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Collaboration: STAR

• Leading analysis towards understanding the gluon contribution to proton spin with longitudinally polarized proton-proton collisions at excess energy 200 GeV
January 2017 – July 2018
Jülich, Germany

#### Research Center Jülich

Collaboration: JEDI

• Investigated polarized deuteron-carbon scattering with the WASA detector.
• Obtained database of spin observables for a dedicated polarimeter for the search for electric dipole moments of charged particles at a storage ring (srEDM).
October 2013 – November 2016
Jülich, Germany

#### Research Center Jülich

Collaboration: WASA-at-COSY

• Prepared and coordinated dedicated beamtime for the charge symmetry breaking reaction $dd\rightarrow{^4\text{He}}\pi^0$ measurement.
• Developed calibration method for time-of-flight and energy losses from plastic scintillators in WASA.
• Measured for the first time the differential cross-section and quantitatively interpreted obtained results by means of partial wave analysis.
October 2011 – July 2013
Cracow, Poland

#### Jagiellonian University

Collaboration: WASA-at-COSY

• Designed modification of the WASA detector setup for optimal measurement of the the $dd\rightarrow{^4\text{He}}\pi^0$.
• Granted ten-week-long dedicated beamtime by the COSY Program Advisory Committee.
October 2010 – July 2013
Cracow, Poland

#### Jagiellonian University

Level: Middle schools and high schools

• Completed courses in pedagogy, psychology, didactics of physics, and voice emission.
• Internships at the high-school and middle-school level: teaching, curriculum preparation, science-club tutoring, and classes for special needs pupils (learning disabilities, disadvantaged backgrounds).
July 2010 – May 2015
Batavia, USA

#### Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Collaboration: CDF

• Analyzed dedicated low-luminosity dataset with the CDF experiment.
• Observed central exclusive $\pi^+\pi^-$ production for the first time at excess energy of 1.96 and 0.9 TeV.

# Selected Publications

(2018). An Isotensor Dibaryon in the $pp \to pp\pi^+\pi^-$ Reaction?. In: Phys. Rev. Lett. 121.

(2018). Connection between zero chromaticity and long in-plane polarization lifetime in a magnetic storage ring. In: Phys. Rev. Accel. Beams 21.

(2018). Importance of $d$-wave contributions in the charge symmetry breaking reaction $dd \to {}^4\text{He}\pi^0$. In: Phys. Lett. B781.

(2017). Phase locking the spin precession in a storage ring. In: Phys. Rev. Lett. 119.

(2014). Charge symmetry breaking in $dd \rightarrow {}^4\text{He} \pi^0$ with WASA-at-COSY. In: Phys. Lett. B739.

(2014). Evidence for a New Resonance from Polarized Neutron-Proton Scattering. In: Phys. Rev. Lett. 112.

(2013). Investigation of the $dd \to$ $^{3}\text{He} n\pi^0$ reaction with the FZ Jülich WASA-at-COSY facility. In: Phys. Rev. C88.

(2013). Search for a dark photon in the $\pi^0 \to e^+e^-\gamma$ decay. In: Phys. Lett. B726.

# Outreach

To push further the frontier of our knowledge, we, as a community of scientists, cannot forget how essential popularization of science is. We can build state-of-the-art experimental facilities and create revolutionary theories and ideas, but as long as we do not have a diverse generation of enthusiastic young people with a critical-thinking attitude to continue our work, we cannot expect to achieve any long-lasting progress.

STEM outreach and education, especially supporting girls and women, is an essential part of my mission as a scientist. My main areas of outreach engagement are Classroom and Mentoring, Public Engagement, Social Media and Advocacy for change.

#### Classroom

My adventure with teaching started during my studies at the Jagiellonian University, where I obtained my teaching qualifications. Since then, I’ve led several classroom activities for university and K-12 students.

#### Mentorship

In addition to my tutoring experience with grad students and summer interns, I have been participating in many K-12 mentorship programs related to promoting careers in STEM.

#### Public Engagement

STEM Festivals and Science Fairs are one of my favorite outreach activities. I love sharing my enthusiasm for science to spark the interest of the general public.

#### Social Media

I’m an advocate for positive change in the academic environment. I’ve been heavily involved in associations supporting early-career scientist and promoting diversity.

During my career, I’ve been heavily involved in organizations supporting STEM students and early-career scientist. This involvement helped me, first of all, in understanding the challenges and motivations of our community. This knowledge is essential for effective organization of association’s programs that help to shape the future career paths of young scientists. With my leadership and project management experience, I aim for making the scientific environment more inclusive and supportive for early-career researchers.

#### Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association

As a co-chair of Berkeley Lab Postdoc Association I support our community of early-career researchers through career-development and community-building programs.

#### Math and Natural Sciences Student Association at UJ

As a president of the association I was supporting STEM students of the Jagiellonian University through science projects, workshops, conferences, and community-building programs.

# Contact

• mariakzurek@lbl.gov
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Nuclear Science Division, 1 Cyclotron Road M/S 70R0319, Berkeley, CA 94720