Rafael Silva Coutinho (he/him/his) joins the Department of Physics in Fall 2022 as a tenure-track assistant professor. He will teach introduction to Modern Physics, including topics such as relativity and quantum physics.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Silva Coutinho was a Swiss National Foundation (SNF) Ambizione fellow at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) from 2017-2021, where he taught a graduate course in the field of flavor physics.

Silva Coutinho’s research focuses on the understand of what is beyond the so-called Standard Model description of the fundamental particles through the study of b-hadron decay at the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) experiment, at the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN). In particular, he aims to unambiguously confirm or refute the hints for a new fundamental force of Nature in these processes. Silva Coutinho has an impressive track record of contributions to the field, from high-profile experimental measurements to the design of novel theory-inspired methodologies. He is also passionate about engaging the public with his research, being the creator and scientific advisor for a series of short videos/documentaries funded by the University of Zurich.

Silva Coutinho has been awarded the highly prestigious SNF Ambizione grant (1 of 90 awards/year across all disciplines in Switzerland) for the period of four years at the University of Zurich.

Professor Silva Coutinho has been appointed by the LHCb collaboration as coordinator of the prestigious working groups “Electroweak penguin” and “Charmless three-body decays” with more than 100 and 50 physicists, respectively, from different countries and institutions.

Silva Coutinho earned a Ph.D. in 2015 from the University of Warwick (UK) and he was awarded the prize for the best LHCb thesis in UK. His Ph.D. studies were fully funded by a Warwick Chancellor’s Scholarship that he was awarded. Silva Coutinho earned a M.S. in 2011 and a B.S. in 2009 from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His master’s degree was awarded a scholarship for outstanding academic performance by the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ).