Jani Penttala Receives 2026 Fanyi Zhao Lectureship Award

Electron-Ion Collider Theory Institute announces winner of award in memory of outstanding early career physicist

September 21, 2026

The Electron-Ion Collider Theory Institute at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory has named Jani Penttala, a postdoctoral theoretical nuclear physicist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the recipient of the 2026 Fanyi Zhao Lectureship Award. Penttala gave a talk titled, “Energy Correlators: A New Lens on Nuclear Structure” at Brookhaven Lab on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026. 

“I feel extremely humbled by this recognition,” Penttala said. “Receiving this award came as a complete surprise.” 

Penttala was previously a participant in the visitor program at the EIC Theory Institute, which aims to broaden and deepen understanding of the scientific opportunities that will be made possible by the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC), a next-generation particle collider being built at Brookhaven Lab in partnership with DOE’s Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.  

Like the EIC itself, Penttala’s research seeks to answer some of the biggest questions about the fundamental building blocks of matter. He develops theoretical models that help scientists understand how quarks and gluons — the tiny particles inside protons and neutrons — are arranged and behave under extreme conditions.  

Specifically, Penttala investigates gluon saturation, a long-predicted phenomenon where gluons multiply to form a dense mass of “glue” when probed at very high energies. Penttala has pioneered novel ways of investigating and modeling the transition to this unique state of matter. 

By making theoretical predictions more precise, Penttala’s work helps ensure that data from experiments, including the future EIC, can be interpreted with greater accuracy. This will advance scientists' understanding of the strong force that binds the visible matter in our universe, which is described by a theory known as quantum chromodynamics. 

"Gluon saturation was predicted decades ago, but it still hasn't been conclusively observed," Penttala said. "Confirming it would strengthen our understanding of quantum chromodynamics. If we want to explore unique features of the Standard Model — the theory that currently describes the known particles and forces that make up our universe — we first need to fully understand it. The Electron-Ion Collider will provide new data that could help answer these longstanding questions." 

Developing more accurate predictions requires increasingly complex calculations, time, and effort. “Persistence is essential because progress often comes after repeated failures,” Penttala said. 

To overcome seemingly impossible challenges, he draws on his curiosity about how the world works — and patience. He credits his mentors for encouraging his questions and independence but also emphasized how collaboration with scientists at the EIC Theory Institute has broadened his research perspectives. 

According to EIC Theory Institute Director Raju Venugopalan, “Jani is an outstanding early career scientist who has made exemplary contributions to EIC theory that have significantly advanced the state of the art in our field. His selection by our external advisory committee out of 25 qualified applicants is an important testament to his growing stature as a nuclear theorist.”  

Originally from Finland, Penttala completed his Ph.D. in physics at the University of Jyväskylä in 2023. He then moved to the United States for his first postdoctoral appointment at UCLA.  

Being named a recipient of the Fanyi Zhao Lectureship Award is a bittersweet experience for Penttala. He knew Zhao — the physicist for whom the award was named after her tragic death in 2024 — and had co-authored several research papers with her. 

“She was an extraordinary scientist and a very kind person,” Penttala said. He chose his lecture topic on energy correlators because it reflects the work he completed with Zhao.  

About the EIC Theory Institute 

The Brookhaven Lab EIC Theory Institute, established in 2022, has played an important role in the EIC scientific community through a vigorous visitor program that promotes novel ideas and scientific collaboration across subfields of science. The institute collaborates closely with the Center for Frontiers in Nuclear Science at Stony Brook University in organizing programs, workshops, meetings, and schools for staff, faculty, and visitors to the Institute. A major goal of the institute is to mentor and engage early career scientists from diverse backgrounds in performing research in EIC science and to broaden its appeal across subfields of physics. In the four years since its inception, the institute has hosted over 200 early career and senior research scientists working on EIC physics. 

About the Fanyi Zhao Lectureship Award 

The EIC Theory Institute established this award in 2024 in memory of Fanyi Zhao, who was an up-and-coming postdoctoral researcher in nuclear and particle theory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when she tragically passed away at the age of 27. Earlier, Zhao had been a participant in the Theory Institute visitor program who greatly impressed the scientific staff there.  

The first recipient of the Fanyi Zhao Lectureship Award was Zhite Yu in 2025, who has since joined Brookhaven Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in the high energy theory group. For more information, please visit the EIC Theory Institute website. 

Brookhaven National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, visit science.energy.gov. 

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