General information
The X NExT PhD Workshop will take place from 29 March - 1 April 2021. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to hold this event face-to-face, and the workshop will be held virtually using Zoom.
PhD students from all institutes, as well as PDRAs & staff, are welcome to attend, and participation is free of charge.
In normal conditions, this event would have taken place in July last year and would have been compulsory for the year 1 NExT cohort of that time (ie, the PhD students who started in Sep 2019), so this remains the case now. Students who enrolled in Sep 2018 or before are encouraged to attend and so are those who started in Sep 2020, though this second group should be aware that the level of the lectures may be too high for some of them, as they are still undergoing PhD training. (The XI NExT PhD Workshop in June/July 2021 organised by Sussex, hopefully face-to-face, will be the compulsory event for the Sep 2020 cohort.)
We are planning an enjoyable event fostering cohort building across NExT and beyond, and between theory and experiment. We are trialling Remo, which is a piece of software which should make participating more friendly, as it features, for example, coffee/tea & dining rooms with tables and chairs, so you get an avatar to go around those starting casual conversations as you would do in a face-to-face situation. This is alongside the standard lecture and breakout room facilities from Zoom. We are planning a brief introductory session for all participants at the beginning of the event to get familiar with this environment.
Fees: Attendance is free of charge.
Zoom link: All participants will be sent the connection details via email. Logged-in users will also be able to access the details here. Please download the latest Zoom app so you can access all features of the meeting.
Remo link: Remo will be used for informal gatherings during the coffee and lunch breaks. Logged-in users will also be able to access the details here.
Mattermost links: Please follow the Mattermost links to join the workshop team and questions channels.
Programme and topics
Topics: BSM Physics, Dark Matter, LHC searches for New Physics, Higher order calculations for the LHC.
Lecturers: Matthew McCullough (Advances in BSM Physics), Anne Green (Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter), Caterina Doglioni (LHC searches for New Physics), Jonas Lindert (Precision MC for the LHC).
Student talks: PhD students are encouraged to discuss their research in dedicated sessions of 5-minute talks. There will be prizes for the best talks!
Virtual poster session: Posters will be projected via screen-sharing and discussed in small groups. There will be prizes for the best posters!
SEPnet Employer Panel Session: The SEPnet employer panel is aimed at raising awareness of career opportunities outside academia for physics doctorates. Panel representatives, all with physics or PhD backgrounds, will spend a few minutes outlining their role, what their organisation does, what skills/knowledge they are looking for and why they might be interested in physicists. The panel session will be followed by a Q&A session and an opportunity for students to talk to employers in small groups.
Organisers:
Stephen West (Chair), Jacob Linacre.
