Financial Times Magazine named Physics Assistant Pro fessor Carla Fröhlich as a ris ing physics star late last year.

The recognition comes from her 2007 discovery of the neutrino p-process and her receipt of the 2013 Early Career Research Award given by the Department of Energy, according to the magazine. This award provides Fröhlich with $750,000 over the course of five years to continue her research in nuclear astro physics, Fröhlich said.

The neutrino p-process that Fröhlich discovered explains how supernovae, or exploding stars, synthe size heavier elements on the periodic table, she said. The discovery resulted from her Ph.d. project at the University of Basel in Switzerland, where she graduated in 2007.

Elements heavier than iron have a lot of “open ques tions” in regards to how and where they are synthesized, Fröhlich said. Researchers like Fröhlich study chemical elements formed in stars and their explosions in order to better understand where these heavier elements origi nate.

Because supernovae are “dying, massive stars,” they produce a lot of fundamental subatomic particles known as neutrinos, Fröhlich said. Though neutrinos have no charge, they can engage in nuclear reactions to form heavier elements in combi nation with the stars’ abun dance of protons. This is catalyzed by the stars’ high temperatures and densities.

During an explosion, these elements blast into space and can be used to form new stars and galaxies, Fröhlich said.

Before Fröhlich’s research it was believed neutrons outnumbered the protons in supernovae, according to Fröhlich.

Fröhlich said that in her research grant application she wrote about her desire to learn more about the details of the neutrino p-process as well as how other elements are made. She also wants to study stars in other phases of their life.

Ultimately she aims to solve the remaining questions of where and how elements form through a collaborative approach between the areas of nuclear physics, observa tional astronomy and astro physics, which uses computer simulations, Fröhlich said.

“My approach combines ac complishments in all of these fields to answer where and how the chemical elements were made,” Fröhlich said.

Fröhlich said she credits the advancement of computer simulations of supernovae and their increased com plexity help to conduct this research, but technology still has a long way to go.

“Even the best computers now are not good enough to simulate all of the physics that occurs in supernovae situations,” Fröhlich said.

Observational astronomy made a lot of progress, as well, which is crucial to the research because it allows for the study of “old and faint stars,” according to Fröhlich.

Before Fröhlich got her start in physics, she said many things interested her, such as languages, but liked physics because “it explains the world around us.”

She began her undergradu ate career at the University of Basel in geophysics, but that changed after she had an in spiring professor in her clas sical mechanics course, who later became her Ph.D. advi sor, Fröhlich said.

After receiving her Ph.D., she received a postdoctoral fellowship from the Univer sity of Chicago.

In 2010 Fröhlich came to N.C. State because she said she saw the physics depart ment as “very welcoming and active.”

“What really convinced me of N.C. State was that there are many people here who work with astrophysics and neutrinos, but don’t do exactly the same thing I do,” Fröhlich said.

Fröhlich said she also ad mired the University’s ties to the Department of Energy Topical Collaboration, of which she is now a member.

“This nationwide col laboration of the University provides a very nice, stimu lating environment for my research,” Fröhlich said.

Fröhlich said she enjoys her job because it requires a “diverse” skill set and she can teach students to push through the challenges of physics.

“I tell my students ‘yes, it might be hard, but if you want to learn, you have to practice,’” Fröhlich said.