Doing a PhD with the ATLAS Group

The ATLAS group is looking for new students! We’re a large and dynamic group of more than 50 people including faculty members, lab scientists, postdocs, and graduate students; in addition we host several undergrad students and visitors. We have a broad research program currently including a large range of Standard Model measurements and searches for new physics, hardware R&D currently focussed on the upgrade of the ATLAS Inner Tracker for HL-LHC, and software and computing, including research and development towards usage of novel hardware and software. Our students typically participate in a few different areas of research as part of their PhD thesis.

Potential Supervisors

In addition to our three faculty members, Heather Gray, Marjorie Shapiro and Haichen Wang, we also have graduate students doing PhDs with scientists at LBNL. Here are some details about some members of the group who are looking for new students, so please feel free to get in touch with us if you’re interested and have any questions.

  • Heather Gray, heather.gray@berkeley.edu, hgray@lbl.gov
    • Possible projects with me include: searches for the coupling of the Higgs boson to charm quarks, using novel approaches from machine learning to identify charm quarks, development of new charged particle track reconstruction algorithms.
  • Zach Marshall, ZLMarshall@lbl.gov
    • Possible projects with me include searches for new physics (particularly Supersymmetry) in scenarios with difficult-to-identify signals or large backgrounds. I’m also interested in a variety of software problems that face the ATLAS collaboration.
  • Simone Pagan-Griso, spagangriso@lbl.gov
    • Possible projects with me include: searches for new long-lived particles with dedicated reconstruction algorithms; measurement of standard-model quartic gauge couplings and searches for beyond-standard-model particles in purely electromagnetic proton-proton interactions; development of charged particle reconstruction algorithms.
  • Haichen Wang, haichenwang@lbl.gov haichenwang@berkeley.edu
    • Possible projects with me include: measurement of Higgs boson coupling, differential cross sections, other properties (CP, mass, width, etc), search for exotic production and decay of the Higgs boson; search and measurement of rare processes four top quark production, exclusive three top quark production. Focus is on processes not yet well studied and measurements where significant improvements can be made.

Current Grad Students

If you’d like to hear about working in the ATLAS group from the perspective of a current graduate student, please feel free to get in contact with any of us:

  • Ryan Roberts, ryan_roberts@berkeley.edu
    • I’m working with other members of the Berkeley ATLAS group to explore potential uses of graphical neural networks in data analysis and use this technique to study the interaction between the top quark and the Higgs boson. I’m also testing front-end data acquisition software for upgraded silicon strip detector ATLAS will install for the HL-LHC.
  • Johannes Wagner, johannes_wagner@berkeley.edu
    • My primary research interest lies in the application of machine learning techniques to problems in experimental high-energy physics. In particular I’m looking to improve our charm jet identification algorithms to better constrain the Higgs to charm coupling.
  • Luc Le Pottier, luclepot@lbl.gov
    • I’m working primarily on the ATLAS Inner Tracker upgrade, by testing the extreme radiation and data rate limits of the new pixel chip and data acquisition system. I am also studying the usage of machine learning for background estimation and unfolding, particularly for use in Higgs analyses.
  • Liam Foster, liam@lbl.gov
    • I’m studying the production of a Z boson in association with a charm quark.
  • Luke Grossman, luke_grossman@berkeley.edu
  • Charles Hultquist, CHultquist@lbl.gov
    • I’m developing data-driven methods to model backgrounds in top quark-Higgs boson interaction studies. I’m also characterizing front-end electronics for ATLAS’s new silicon pixel detector for the high-luminosity LHC upgrade.
  • Laura Nosler, lnosler@lbl.gov
  • Hadley Queiroz, hadley_santana@berkeley.edu
  • Chengxi Yang, chengxiyang@lbl.gov
  • Zhirong (Stella) Zhang, zhirongzhang@lbl.gov

See the dedicated page for details about the thesis topics for previous grad students and where they are today.