The world remains just one false alarm, a single person’s impulsive decision, and a few minutes from nuclear conflagration and an ensuing nuclear winter. Thousands of nuclear weapons around the world are on hair-trigger alert. Once the button is pushed, the order can’t be rescinded, and once launched, the missiles cannot be shot down. Despite many historically documented nuclear “near misses,” and a renewed rise in global tensions, nuclear risk mitigation receives little attention from policymakers, researchers, and students alike.
The nuclear risk program at XLab focuses on mitigating catastrophic risks posed by nuclear weapons through impactful research and seeks to cultivate a community of motivated students and scholars who are interested in careers in nuclear security, as well as the broader international security and existential risk mitigation fields.
AUDREY WECKWERTH
BA/MA Global Studies and International Relations, University of Chicago ‘25
Mentor: Christopher Twomey, Naval Postgraduate School
ARYAN SHRIVASTAVA
Mathematics, University of Chicago ‘26
Mentor: Jessica Hullman, Northwestern University
Response Inconsistency of Large Language Models in High Stakes Military Decision Making
RHEA KANUPARTHI
Political Science and Mathematics, University of Chicago ‘27
Mentor: Ankit Panda, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
SIMON SISKEL
Political Science and Mathematics, University of Chicago ‘25
Mentor: Paul Bracken, Yale University
Deterrence and Deescalation: U.S. Strategies for a Nuclear-Capable Iran
KEVIN LI
MA, Committee on International Relations, University of Chicago ‘24
Mentor: Charles Glaser, MIT
LAVINIA CAVALET
BA/MA Economics and International Relations, University of Chicago ‘25
Mentor: Austin Carson, University of Chicago
JAMES ROSENBERGER
Computational and Applied Mathematics, Statistics, University of Chicago ‘26
Mentor: Mihai Anitescu, University of Chicago
Measuring Community Significance and State Vulnerability After Nuclear Winter
AUSTIN COFFEY
MPhil in Policy Analysis, RAND Pardee ‘26
Mentor: James Steinberg, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Johns Hopkins University