ALICE Tier-1/Tier-2 Workshop in Kosice, High Tatras

The Lucky Thirteen Annual ALICE Tier-1/Tier-2 Workshop will be hosted by the Slovak Instritute of Experimental Physics (IEP SAS),  in Nový Smokovec, a city in the High Tatras, Slovak Republic.

Novy Smokovec, c.1922

Nový Smokovec is a historic settlement at the Slavkovský štít's foot in the High Tatras. It is known for its historic villas that have been transformed into spa resorts and hotels offering wellness treatments. It serves as a jumping off point for scenic hikes to valleys in summertime, while powdery slopes draw skiers and snowboarders during the winter months. Rustic restaurants serve meals amid picturesque mountain views. 

Workshop goals

As the LHC concludes Run 3 and transitions into the intensive four-year Long Shutdown 3, the Grid community stands at an important juncture. The begining of LS3 and the workshop offers a timely opportunity to evaluate the remarkable achievements of the past four data taking years, during which the ALICE collaboration successfully amassed an unprecedented volume of high-quality p-p and heavy-ion data, providing a rich foundation for future discovery.

Beyond looking in the past, the workshop serves as a critical planning phase for the upcoming LS3 data reprocessing campaign. This endeavor necessitates an overhaul of operational principles across the ALICE Grid sites to ensure the infrastructure can handle the sheer scale of the workflow, both in terms of data reprocessing and analysis. As we look toward the future, we must also confront the rapid emergence of new computational technologies, which offer a high potential for growth, but also introduce significant technical hurdles, requiring a comprehensive improvements of the Grid software as well as site procurement and operation strategies. Our goal is to discuss and plan the necessary updates that will allow these hardware tools to operate with maximum efficiency, ensuring the cohesion of the Grid computational resources and the workflows using them.

As always, this workshop strongly encourages direct, in-person interaction among site experts, software developers, storage specialists, and network engineers.

The workshop will take place in the conference center of Hotel Átrium in Nový Smokovec, It will serve as both accomodation and workshop venue.

Registration deadline:  16 August 2026

Workshop fee:  300 EUR / 275 CHF / 360 USD), please refer to the Payment of workshop fee section.