Recent research work, part of the PhD dissertation of Lefteris Markou, a graduate student at The Cyprus Institute, was published in the international scientific journal "The European Physical Journal A", a leading journal for nuclear and particle physics, and was awarded an honorary distinction by being chosen for the cover of the magazine. Lefteris is currently in the United States presenting the results of his research at the Photonuclear Reactions Gordon Research Conference.

The research was carried out in collaboration with Prof. Efstathios Styliaris, under the guidance of Prof. Costas Papanicolas, and deals with one of the major open issues of physics, that of investigating the shape of the proton. Protons are the smallest elementary particles whose size has been measured, with a diameter about a million times smaller than that of the atom. Most theoretical models consider the shape of the proton to be spherical.

For the purpose of this study, recent experimental data from international particle accelerators were used, and advanced algorithms were employed in conjunction with the enormous computational power offered by CyI’s Cy-Tera supercomputer, the largest open-access super computer in the Eastern Mediterranean. In the paper, the CyI researchers show that the shape of the proton, beyond any doubt, is not spherical but is distorted!

Mr. Markou is a student at the Graduate School of the Cyprus Institute, an accredited higher education institution established as a regional center of educational excellence. It offers Master’s and PhD graduate programs accredited by the Quality Assurance and Certification Body of Higher Education (DIPAE), and attracts students from all over the world, by providing them with the necessary knowledge and skills needed for tomorrow's knowledge society.

This distinction is an acknowledgement for the quality of The Cyprus Institute, its researchers and students, and further recognition for the important role of The Cyprus Institute as a regional research center of excellence for Cyprus and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The publication is published in the latest issue of the journal "The European Physical Journal A", and the reference is:

Markou, L., Stiliaris, E. & Papanicolas, C.N. Eur. Phys. J. A (2018) 54: 115. https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2018-12549-7