At the recently concluded XXXI International Conference on Ultra-relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions (Quark Matter 2025), two doctoral students from the Institute of Particle Physics at the College of Physical Science and Technology received prestigious international academic awards.

Feng Hanwen was honored with the Best Presentation Award by the American Physical Society (APS) for his talk titled "Baryon-Strangeness Correlations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC-STAR". He was the only graduate student in experimental physics to receive this distinction at the conference.
Jin Yixuan received the Flash Talk Awards at the conference. Both students were the only recipients from China in their respective award categories.

The International Quark Matter Conference is one of the most influential academic events in the field of high-energy nuclear physics. The 2025 edition was held from April 6 to 12 in Frankfurt, Germany, attracting around 1,000 experts and scholars from across the globe to discuss cutting-edge topics such as quark-gluon plasma and heavy-ion collision physics.

Doctoral student Feng Hanwen (second from the right) poses for a photo with the award committee from the American Physical Society at the award ceremony.

Feng Hanwen’s award-winning presentation, “Baryon-Strangeness Correlations in Au+Au Collisions at RHIC-STAR,” was based on experimental data from the RHIC-STAR experiment at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the United States. His research innovatively revealed new phenomena in baryon-strangeness correlations in Au+Au collisions, providing critical experimental evidence for exploring the properties of quark matter and the structure of the QCD phase diagram. The work received high praise from the review committee.

Jin Yixuan’s research poster, titled“Production of Light Nuclei in Au+Au Collisions with the STAR BES-II Program,” was awarded Flash Talk Awards at the conference for its innovative research approach and outstanding presentation. She was invited to give a talk during the conference's "Flash Talk" session to present this important research to the international community.

Doctoral student Jin Yixuan with her award-winning poster.

Award-winning team from Central China Normal University (CCNU) at the Quark Matter 2025 International Conference (from left to right):
Doctoral student Feng Hanwen (recipient of the APS Best Presentation Award),
Professor Luo Xiaofeng (advisor),
Doctoral student Jin Yixuan (recipient of the Best Poster Award).

It is reported that both award recipients are doctoral students in the RHIC-STAR Collaboration of the Institute of Particle Physics at CCNU. The STAR group, led by Professors Xu Nu and Liu Feng, includes Professors Shi Shusu, Wang Yaping, and Luo Xiaofeng, along with more than 30 graduate students.

The group delivered an outstanding performance at this year’s conference, contributing five parallel session presentations and twelve academic posters, fully demonstrating CCNU’s strong research capabilities in high-energy nuclear physics.

In recent years, the Institute of Particle Physics at the College of Physical Science and Technology has maintained close collaborative ties with leading international research institutions such as CERN and BNL. These awards further enhance the university’s international visibility and influence in high-energy nuclear physics.

Group photo of CCNU STAR collaboration faculty and students at the conference.

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