STFC Council member
Professor Stan Bentvelsen is a member of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Council.
Professor Bentvelsen is an experimental particle physicist and a professor specialising in the physics of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). He began his academic career by studying the internal dynamics of the proton at the HERA collider in Hamburg. Following his graduation, he relocated to Geneva, where he worked as a fellow and staff physicist, contributing to the OPAL experiment at the LEP collider and later to the ATLAS experiment at the LHC.
His primary area of research focuses on the study of the strong and weak interactions as described by the Standard Model of particle physics. He contributed, alongside many colleagues, in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson.
For the past ten years, he has served as the director of Nikhef, overseeing the Dutch national program in particle and astroparticle physics. Nikhef is a partnership involving the national laboratory and major Dutch universities. The scientific program encompasses Dutch participation in CERN activities and involvement in prominent international astroparticle physics experiments.
In recent years, Stan has become increasingly involved in the study of gravitational waves. He is currently the Science Officer for the Dutch efforts related to the planned Einstein Telescope.
Last updated: 1 April 2025