Exploring ALICE: A Three-Part Introduction Series for Young Researchers

Dec 6, 2025, 10:00 AM → Dec 21, 2025, 5:00 PM Europe/Zurich

Bilge Jin Onen (TR Istanbul)

ALICE is one of the four major LHC experiments at CERN, alongside ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb, and conducts leading research on heavy-ion collisions, the properties of hadronic matter, and the quark–gluon plasma (QGP).

This three-session online series is designed as a comprehensive starting point for students who wish to work in experimental high-energy physics, join large international collaborations, and shape their careers in this direction. The sessions will clearly and systematically explain where young researchers can begin, which technical skills they need to develop, and how they can build an effective roadmap within the CERN LHC collaborations.

Sat, December 6

Your First Steps into ALICE

Prof. Ayben Karasu Uysal will give an introductory talk on the ALICE experiment, focusing on its physics motivations, detector systems, and collaboration structure. As the Turkish Team Leader within ALICE, she will also highlight the role of the Turkish group, current research activities, and how young researchers from Turkey can become involved in analysis, service work, and the broader collaboration ecosystem.

Convener: Bilge Jin Onen (Kendisi)

poster.jpeg

YourFirstStepsIntoALICE.mp4

Wed, December 17

Roles and Opportunities for Early Career Researchers at ALICE

This session will provide an overview of the technical, managerial, and community roles available to young researchers within the ALICE Collaboration. It will introduce opportunities in detector operations, quality control, offline software, analysis tasks, performance groups, service work, and shift duties, as well as collaboration-wide roles in project coordination, meeting management, communication, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. By outlining how these responsibilities function in practice and how newcomers can get involved, the session will help students understand the many ways they can contribute to a large collaboration and grow within a large international experiment.

Speakers:
* Bianca Sabiu — INFN Sezione di Bologna & University of Bologna
* Rohaan Deb — University of Brescia (Italian National Doctoral Programme; in collaboration with the University of Trento)
* Sara Garetti — IJCLab / Université Paris-Saclay

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ALICEJuniors_Workshop.pdf

Session2-AliceJuniorsRepresentatives.mp4

Thu, December 18

Working in ALICE: Detectors and Analysis

This session brings together two experts from the ALICE Collaboration to provide an integrated overview of detector-focused responsibilities and physics analysis workflows.

Dr. Francesca Ercolessi, a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bologna, will introduce the fundamentals of data analysis, including the structure of analysis groups, the Run-3 software ecosystem, typical analysis tasks, and the skills expected from new contributors.

Dr. Mesut Arslandok, an Associate Research Scientist at Yale University, will cover detector operations and hardware responsibilities, such as calibration, performance monitoring, upgrade activities, expert duties, and service work, explaining how these tasks support ALICE’s physics output and how young researchers can engage with detector teams early in their careers.

Together, the speakers will offer students a realistic understanding of technical pathways, career development, and contribution opportunities within ALICE.

Detectors&Analysis.mp4

Mesut_Arslandok_Session3_181225.pdf

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