Particle Physics Instrumentation Research: which UK university?

[CzTee96]

Hello there! Recently, I was awarded a governmental scholarship to study for a PhD at the University of Cambridge. I am interested in particle detectors (development or characterisation) and am okay with analysis work. Is anyone here studying or has studied at the University of Cambridge and done research/work on the detectors? I heard that Cambridge has a strong reputation in theoretical physics, but I need clarification on the detector aspect. Or should I try other universities like the ICL, which has a strong CMS group? It would be great if anyone could share your experience here or point me to anyone who has experience working there. Thank you for your time! :D

Note: My entry will be in the Easter term of 2023/2024. I applied to Oxford and got rejected, so I don't feel like applying to Oxford again.

 

[Dr.AbeNikIanEdL]

They seem to have a good website (no worries I googled for you https://www.hep.phy.cam.ac.uk/) detailing what the different groups are doing. Looks like ATLAS and LHCb rather than CMS if that is a factor for you, but they mention detector work. It might be worth contacting some of the people there directly, and find out what projects could look like.

 

[Vanadium 50]

First, there is a difference between developing new detector technologies and applying existing detector technologies to build experiments. You need to decide what you are talking about.

If the former, the UK is not strong. Actually, no place is really strong - the people who drove this field have largely retired or passed away: Georges Charpak, David Nygren, Fabio Sauli, Bill Willis. Also, a lot of this work was done in national or international labs, not so much universities.

If the latter, it's not so much "what" as "when". You want a group that is working on something at the phase you are interested in - design, construction, etc.