Karolina Wresilo (PhD Particle Physics) discusses the “one-of-a-kind opportunity”
The American Physical Society (APS) Meeting is an interdisciplinary physics conference attended by thousands of scientists aimed at networking with the wider science community and showcasing state-of-the-art science research conducted all around the world.
Karolina was able to attend the conference which took place between the 15th and 18th of April in Minnesota, thanks to the College’s Travel, Research and Conferences fund.
At the conference, she delivered a formal presentation on behalf of the DUNE collaboration, which she has been a part of since the start of her PhD, and delivered a science summary of the wider efforts of the DUNE NDLAr Consortium to a non-expert audience. DUNE is a future-generation neutrino experiment aiming to answer some of the outstanding unsolved questions in particle physics. It is hosted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory – a world-leading research centre for neutrino physics. The NDLAr 2x2 Demonstrator is a prototype for the DUNE near detector which will be critical to achieving DUNE’s physics goals. During her PhD, Karolina has been involved in efforts towards bringing the NDLAr 2x2 Demonstrator online.
Karolina comments, “This funding contributed towards the significant costs involved with travelling and attending a meeting all the way across the Atlantic. Every conference and field trip provides a chance to travel and get to know the local culture and landscape. I am grateful to have been able to visit the city of Minneapolis, home to the University of Minnesota where many of my collaborators conduct their respective research. It was a unique experience during which I was able to attend an event where I could interact with students, academic staff, and scientists alike and learn about world-leading research outside of my own field of physics. An example of this was a plenary session concerned about the latest results from the James Webb Space Telescope.”
Karolina adds, “Attendance at the APS meeting allowed me to broaden my skill set delivering a challenging, high-level talk. Crucially, it was a one-of-a-kind opportunity to present on behalf of a physics collaboration composed of over 1500 individuals from over 200 institutions in over 30 countries – not only boosting my CV but also essential for growing my confidence as an early career scientist.”