The PhD and the PostDoctoral Programmes of
CHIPP
Ever since its creation in 2003 teaching and education was one of the main
goals of CHIPP. Its Constitution stipulates:
- “Particle, astroparticle and nuclear physics belong to the basic
education at the bachelor level. Hence CHIPP gives recommendations for the
curricula in
Switzerland for nuclear, particle and astroparticle physics at the level
of the Bachelor, and also for the Master and Doctorate levels. CHIPP helps
to ensure
that appropriate courses in these fields are taught at all Swiss universities.
Common PhD teaching programmes (graduate courses) will be proposed and
organized at the national level.”
- “CHIPP participates in the national and international efforts to
promote public awareness of particle physics. In particular, it participates
in the European
outreach activities.”
A corresponding Doctoral programme [link to the section Doctoral Programme
below] has been set up and is running with good success.
A quantitative step forward has been made in 2008, when a CHIPP proposal
tocreate
the ‘Swiss
Centre of Advanced Studies in Particle Physics in the LHC Era’, submitted
to the Schweizerische
Universitätskonferenz SUK
in 2007, was approved and corresponding funds granted. The Centre places emphasis
on :
- the development of a Centre of Excellence in high energy collider
physics;
- coordinating inter-institutional cooperation among the partners,
including the CSCS Manno;
- modernising research and teaching.
The Centre aims at fostering the optimal exploitation and interpretation of
the data, which are collected by the ATLAS,
CMS
and LHCb
experiments, operating at the Large Hardron Collider (LHC)
at CERN.
It is also part of a Swiss wide policy – reaching beyond particle
physics – to promote the
integration of, and cooperation between, the different types of Higher Education
Institutions. The way it has been set up respects the unity of Teaching and
Research and contributes considerably to consolidating the strong position
of the participating institutes at the forefront of particle physics by adding
value to the existing excellence.
At present, the Centre comprises three Cantonal universities (Berne, Geneva,
Zurich) and the two ETHs, but involves also the PSI and the CSCS Manno. For
the period 2008-2012 it is funded with 3.3 MCHF by SUK
and ETH-Rat
(Projektgebundene Beiträge),
supplemented by approx. 1.5 MCHF of Eigenleistungen (real money) from the three
Cantonal universities involved.
One important element for maintaining the high quality of the physics education
in all Swiss Higher Education institutions active in Particle Physics over
the next decade or so is to invest in Human resources and to make sure that
the next generation of researches get the best possible education. The complete
education process from Master to PostDoc should therefore be complemented by
a coherent and well balanced set of programmes adapted to the individual needs
and requirements of each education level.
In this philosophy, the institutes involved in CHIPP have agreed :
-
to continue the coordination of their PhD programmes and the master
curricula in the framework of the Bologna process by expanding the Doctoral
Programme with
joint lectures, special courses and schools across Switzerland on all
aspects of LHC physics;
-
to participate in the ProDoc Programme from
the Swiss National Science Foundation SNF
- to join forces to create a number of additional Post-Doc positions in
a PostDoctoral
Programme.
Detailed information can be found in the Annual Reports (2008,
2009,
2010,
2011,
Final report 2008-2012.
Doctoral
programme :
The CHIPP Doctoral Programme is a framework for Swiss high-energy physics
doctoral students to participate in doctoral classes throughout Switzerland.
Any student of a participating institution may enroll in a class at any other
participating institution. The participating institutions, with a link to their
current class programs are:
University of Geneva & EPFL
(3eme cycle)
University
of Bern (Albert Einstein Center)
University
of Zurich
Anastasiou/Gehrmann: Physics of Electroweak
Symmetry Breaking
de Florian: Structure of the Nucleon
ETHZ /
Astroparticle
physics / General
course on energy and environment / Medical imaging, particle
physics
The CHIPP doctoral programme also includes the courses, schools, and workshops
organized by CHIPP.
Video lectures and web forums from the Virtual Institute of Astroparticle
Physics can accessed at www.cosmovia.org.
Coming events
Past events
2012
2011
2010
- CHIPP PhD Winter School 2010 17-24
January 2010 Ascona, Switzerland
- 40th Saas-Fee Course: Astrophysics at very high energies, 15-20
March 2010
- Swiss Physical Society, annual meeting, 21-22
June 2010, Basel
- PSI / Zuoz school 2010, 1-7
August 2010 : "Gearing up for LHC Physics", covering both
experimental and theoretical aspects of LHC data analysis.
- CHIPP workshop on High energy frontier 1-2
Septembre 2010, Uni Zuerich
- Physics of Symmetries and Interactions at low energies and the precision
frontier, 11-14 October 2010,
PSI.
ProDoc
programme :
The Swiss experimental and theoretical Particle Physics community has proposed
to the SNF a ProDoc Educational Module for advanced studies in ‘Particle
Physics in the LHC Era’ to create scholarships of highest international
reputation, aiming to attracting the best young scientists worldwide to study
in Switzerland. Existing graduate students in the collaborating institutions
profit from this coordinated programme, which is complemented by ProDoc Research
Modules at the individual institutes. The proposal has been accepted for the
period 2009-2012 and 9 Doctoral students have been supported under the Research
Modules. The fact that the ProDoc programme is discontinued by SNF places in
the future an additional burden on the universities and ETHs, responsible for
the PhD education.
This combined effort of all involved Swiss universities is essential to maintain
a high quality of education for graduate students in a cost efficient way.
Thus, the ProDoc organizes lectures and specialised courses for its members
on all relevant aspects of LHC physics. The system conforms to the new PhD
programmes of the participating universities in the Bologna system. The creation
of such a ProDoc programme is in line with the aims of the CHIPP, which closely
monitors the scientific quality and educational success of the programmes.
They contribute to the implementation of the most important strategic direction
of particle physics in Switzerland, as identified by the CHIPP roadmap in 2004.
The scientific responsibility for the programme lays with a member of the
CHIPP executive board, who reports to the CHIPP Board and Plenary meetings
regularly. The educational resources of the ProDoc primarily come from the
doctoral schools of the participating institutions, as well as from existing
CERN and PSI doctoral programmes; the research resources are provided by the
SNF, the institutes concerned and CERN.
After the delayed start of the ProDoc educational programme in 2009, it is
now well established as a Swiss wide educational programme in particle physics
with special emphasis on the physics programme of the Large Hadron Collider
(LHC) at CERN. The five institutes involved at EPFL, ETHZ and the Universities
of Berne, Geneva and Zurich have agreed to allow their students to attend any
doctoral level course organized in the two regional sites (arc lémanique,
Zurich region) and to get credit for their participation. For the academic
year 2009/10, most of the PhD students made use of this Swiss-wide offer.
For the ProDoc Research Modules, which are individual for each of the participating
institutes, a total of 9 ProDoc PhD students (list) have been selected and
assigned to the three LHC experiments with Swiss participation (2 each in Berne,
Geneva,
EPFL, and ETHZ, 1 at University of Zurich).
Many of them are supervised by PostDocs working under the PostDoctoral
programme.
More information can be found in the ProDoc
training module request.
Coming events
Postdoctoral
programme :
In a worldwide competition, the CHIPP institutes have filled 9 positions with
outstanding PostDocs, selected from 106 applications. Six positions are attributed
exclusively to data interpretation from the detectors, whereas three positions
provide also IT experiment support and system administration and ensure the
close collaboration with the Swiss Computing
Centre Manno CSCS.
- Annual reports CHIPP C15, available 2008, 2009, 2010.
Updated : C. Blanchard, 28.02.2012
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