USCMS Undergraduate Summer Internship 2026

26 May 2026, 07:30 → 31 Jul 2026, 17:00 US/Central

Pileup (WH11NW)

Jim Hirschauer (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US)), Kenneth Bloom (University of Nebraska Lincoln (US)), Santanu Banerjee (Tougaloo College), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Tulika Bose (University of Wisconsin Madison (US)), Ulrich Heintz (Brown University (US))

The US CMS PURSUE Undergraduate Summer Research Internship Program is a ten-week paid internship program, which offers undergraduate students an opportunity to perform a project under the mentorship of scientists working at the frontier of physics at one of the 50+ institutions in the US.

The internship program is open to students pursuing physics, engineering, computer science, math, chemistry, or related majors.

The research internships will be structured to encourage students to persist in a STEM major through college and to train them in skills needed for a future career in the STEM workforce in order to sustain a talent pool in research and innovation.

This immersive research internship opportunity will cover areas in instrumentation, technology, and computing projects. Students will use computational tools and data-science methods to learn about fundamental particles and their interactions, by analyzing data obtained from the CMS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) located at CERN, Switzerland. The pool of mentors are physicists from US institutes affiliated with the CMS experiment at the LHC and at the rank of university faculty, scientists from national labs, postdoctoral fellows, and advanced graduate students.

The program is funded by U.S. Department of Energy RENEW-HEP: U.S. CMS SPRINT award at Tougaloo College, Brown University, University of Puerto Rico (Mayaguez), and University of Wisconsin; and the U.S. CMS Operations program at Fermilab and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

 

Questions about the US CMS internship program can be directed to Sudhir Malik (sudhir.malik@upr.edu).

Laptop setup

Laptop setup

Tuesday 26 May

07:30 → 12:00 Morning

07:30 Shuttle/Transport from Aspen East to Wilson Hall 1

08:00 Badging at Wilson Hall SEMD 1NW (8:00 AM - 9:30 AM)

09:30 Welcome

Speakers: Santanu Banerjee (Tougaloo College), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Tulika Bose (University of Wisconsin Madison (US))

09:50 Introductions (Slide Deck) - Interns and Mentors

10:30 One on one students mentor introductions (in person and zoom)

Speakers: Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US)), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US))

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Afternoon

13:00 CMS Physics Overview

Speaker: Tulika Bose (University of Wisconsin Madison (US))

14:00 CMS Detector - a discovery tool

Speaker: Steve Nahn (Fermilab)

15:00 Entering Research

Speaker: Chris Palmer (University of Maryland (US))

Wednesday 27 May

09:00 → 12:00 Morning: Morning Session

09:00 The UNIX Shell: A guide through the basics of the file systems and the shell

Speaker: Iliomar Rodriguez Ramos (University of Puerto Rico (US))

UNIX Shell

Vi cheat sheet

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:30 Afternoon: Afternoon Session

13:00 Cohort building

Speakers: Matthew Bellis (Cornell University/Siena College (US)), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US))

14:30 The UNIX Shell: A guide through the basics of the file systems and the shell

Speaker: Iliomar Rodriguez Ramos (University of Puerto Rico (US))

UNIX Shell

Thursday 28 May

09:00 → 12:00 Morning: Morning Session

09:00 Git I - In this lesson we use Git from the Unix Shell

Speaker: Sneha Vireshwar Dixit (University of Nebraska-Lincoln (US))

Git tutorial

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Afternoon: Afternoon Session

13:00 How to do Particle Physics in a Climate Emergency? (Curia II-WH2SW) - WH11NW - Pileup

Speaker: Kenneth Bloom (University of Nebraska Lincoln (US))

14:00 Git II - In this lesson we use Git from the Unix Shell¶

Speaker: Sneha Vireshwar Dixit (University of Nebraska-Lincoln (US))

Git cheatsheet

Git tutorial

Learn git branching visual interactive

Friday 29 May

09:00 → 12:00 Morning: Morning Session

09:00 Introduction to Python

Speakers: Mateo Lisondo (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Namratha Urs (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

Intro to Python I

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Afternoon: Afternoon Session

13:00 CMS Computing

Speaker: Andrew Malone Melo (Vanderbilt University (US))

14:00 Introduction to Python II

Speakers: Mateo Lisondo (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Namratha Urs (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)

Intro To Python II

Monday 1 June

09:00 → 12:00 Morning

09:00 Python for HEP

Speaker: Richa Sharma (University of Puerto Rico (US))

Jupyter book

Python for HEP Github

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:30 Afternoon

13:00 Visit to Quantum Garage (IARC)

Greg Tatkowski and Paul Heidler would be the tour guides. They will meet us at the main entrance of IARC (Click for location)

14:15 Python for HEP

Speaker: Richa Sharma (University of Puerto Rico (US))

Jupyter book

Tuesday 2 June

09:00 → 12:00 Morning

09:00 PyROOT and RDataFrame

Speaker: Anagha Aravind (University of Wisconsin (US))

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

12:50 → 17:15 Afternoon

13:00 ROC Tour (WH Atrium)

13:45 What is a jet? (Remote talk from CERN)

Speaker: Garvita Agarwal (University of Notre Dame (US))

14:45 PyROOT and RDataFrame

Speaker: Anagha Aravind (University of Wisconsin (US))

Wednesday 3 June

09:00 → 12:00 Morning

09:00 Containers and Apptainer

Speaker: Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US))

Introduction to Apptainer/Singularity

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Afternoon

13:00 Calorimeters current and future

Speaker: Grace Cummings (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

14:00 Machine Learning

Speaker: Arghya Chattopadhyay (University of Puerto Rico (US))

ML for PURSUE

Thursday 4 June

09:00 → 12:00 Morning

09:00 Machine Learning Exercises

Speaker: Arghya Chattopadhyay (University of Puerto Rico (US))

10:45 Transition from Pileup to Sidet (Interns will be taken in turns by our cars (Sudhir, Kelsey, Santanu etc))

11:00 Tour of Sidet (Silcon Detector Facility)

Interns will be taken in turns by our cars (Sudhir, Kelsey, Santanu etc).
For Sidet Location click here

Speaker: Irene Zoi (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 17:00 Afternoon

13:00 Particle Physics Career Mentoring

Speakers: Robert Harris (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US)), Robert Harris (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (Fermilab))

14:00 Containers and Apptainer

Speaker: Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US))

Friday 5 June

09:00 → 12:00 Morning

09:00 Coding Dojo

Speakers: Abigail Catherine Warden (University of Wisconsin (US)), Arghya Chattopadhyay (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US)), Mateo Lisondo di Tada, Namratha Urs (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory), Richa Sharma (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Roy Cruz Candelaria (University of Wisconsin Madison), Sneha Vireshwar Dixit

12:00 → 13:00 Lunch

13:00 → 19:00 Afternoon

13:00 Future Collider (Muon Collider)

Speaker: Sergo Jindariani (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

14:00 Talk to Fermilab Engineer (Sergey Los)

Speaker: Sergey Los (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

14:30 CMS 101

Speakers: Roy Cruz Candelaria (University of Wisconsin Madison), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US))

15:30 Classes Q&A and Assignments

Speakers: Ameya Thete (University of Wisconsin-Madison (US)), Arghya Chattopadhyay (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Bruno Moreira Coimbra (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US)), Iliomar Rodriguez Ramos (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US)), Roy Cruz Candelaria (University of Wisconsin Madison), Xiaohe Shen (Brown University (US))

16:30 Coordination with mentors and sendoff

Wednesday 10 June

13:00 → 14:00 Higgs Physics

Speaker: Philip Chang (University of Florida (US))

Friday 12 June

13:00 → 16:00 5 min - 5 slides

Suggested order of speakers

#	First Name	Last Name
1	FN	LN

File name requirements: LASTNAME_FIRSTNAME_5min5slides.pdf
Accepted file types: PDF, PPTX, Google Slides
Example: CRUZ_ROY_5min5slides.pdf

Speakers: Iliomar Rodriguez Ramos (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Richa Sharma (University of Puerto Rico (US)), Roy Cruz Candelaria (University of Wisconsin Madison), Sudhir Malik (University of Puerto Rico (US))

Monday 15 June

13:00 → 14:00 Dark Matter

Speaker: Don Lincoln (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

Wednesday 17 June

13:00 → 13:20 Luminosity (Reschedule to Next Friday 27 June)

Speaker: Chris Palmer (University of Maryland (US))

Friday 19 June

13:00 → 14:00 Meet a USCMS Physicist (Dr. Ierene Dutta, Fermilab)

Speaker: Irene Dutta (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

Monday 22 June

13:00 → 14:00 Grad school prep - resumes and networking

Speaker: Julie Hogan (Bethel University (US))

Wednesday 24 June

13:00 → 14:00 Talk - High-energy Collisions through the Ages

Speaker: Chris Quigg (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

Friday 26 June

13:00 → 14:00 Luminosity

Speaker: Chris Palmer (University of Maryland (US))

Monday 29 June

13:00 → 14:00 Higgs physics and why we care

Speaker: Marko Stamenkovic (Brown University (US))

Wednesday 1 July

13:00 → 14:00 CMS Heavy Ions physics

Speaker: Yi Chen (Vanderbilt University (US))

Monday 6 July

13:00 → 14:00 No strings attached

Speaker: Arghya Chattopadhyay (University of Puerto Rico (US))

Wednesday 8 July

13:00 → 14:00 Statistics and uncertainties

Speaker: Nick Smith (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US))

Monday 13 July

13:00 → 14:00 The detector determines the physics

Speaker: Corrinne Mills (University of Illinois Chicago (US))

Wednesday 15 July

13:15 → 14:15 Science Advocay and Funding

Speaker: David Yu (University at Buffalo (US))

Monday 20 July

13:00 → 14:00 CMS Trigger

Speaker: Kiley Elizabeth Kennedy (Princeton University (US))

Wednesday 22 July

13:00 → 14:00 Grad school prep - how grad school works and the personal/research statement

Speaker: Julie Hogan (Bethel University (US))

Sunday 26 July

00:00 → 23:55 Poster Submission

Monday 27 July

13:00 → 14:00 Presenting your research

Speaker: Marco Mambelli (Fermilab (US))

Wednesday 29 July

13:30 → 14:30 Q&A with PURSUE alumni

Speakers: Ada Carolyn Collins (University of Colorado Boulder (US)), Casandra Saxon (Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (US)), Luis Felipe Koehler Domingues

Thursday 30 July

09:30 → 12:30 Morning: Interns' Final Presentations (20 min talk + 10 min Q&A) - Reviewers : TBD

12:30 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 16:30 Afternoon: Interns' Final Presentations (20 min talk + 10 min Q&A) - Reviewers: TBD

13:30 Talk 7: Simultaneous Fit Approach for Relative Nonlinearity/Nonlinear Response in CMS Luminometers

Speaker: John Tran (McMurry Christian University))

14:00 Talk 8: Beam Halo Trigger for the Phase-2 EMTF

Speaker: Jalane Mendo (Skidmore College)

14:30 Talk 9: Search for exotic decay of the Higgs boson in 8 b-jets final state

Speaker: Eve Zeng (Pomona College)

15:00 Talk 10: Assembly and Testing of Scintillator Tile Modules for the High-Granularity Calorimeter Upgrade

Speaker: Simran Bimb (Cypress College)

15:30 Talk 11: Harnessing the Power of AI and CI/CD to Fuel Scientific Discovery

Speaker: Alex Chidera Umeasalugo (Grambling State University)

16:00 Talk 12: Improving Monitoring of the CERN Tape Archive

Speaker: Danijela Concion (Saint Mary’s College of California)

Friday 31 July

09:30 → 12:30 Morning: Interns Final Presentations (20 min talk + 10 min Q&A) - Reviewers: TBD

09:30 Talk 13: Improving searches for long lived heavy ionizing particles

Speaker: Michael John Noamesi (Gettysburg College)

10:00 Talk 14: Phase-2 Outer Tracker Module Testing & POTATO software in Analysis and Grading

Speaker: Nhi Lê (Gettysburg College)

10:30 Talk 15: Testing and Validation of HGCAL front-end electronics for the CMS phase-2 upgrade

Speaker: Sharmila Mustari Nandita (Mount Holyoke College))

11:00 Talk 16: Training a neural network to differentiate transversely and longitudinally polarized W bosons

Speaker: Aimen Obaid (Smith College)

11:30 Talk 17: Probing high jet multiplicity signatures in proton-proton collisions

Speaker: Ayshah Shahab (Coe College)

12:00 Talk 18: Statistical Manifolds Clustering & Regression: K-Maximum Likelihood Estimation for Collider Physics

Speaker: Yulin Zhai (Claremont McKenna College)

12:30 → 13:30 Lunch

13:30 → 15:00 Afternoon: Feedback session

13:30 Interns fill 10-week feedback form

15:00 → 15:30 Distribution of Certificates

15:30 → 16:00 Discussion and goodbye