IDPASC summer school in particle and astroparticle physics and cosmology for the first time in the Czech Republic

Top lecturers from 6 European countries and the United States of America came together at the Joint Laboratory of Optics of the Palacký University in Olomouc and the Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences to organize the 11th installment in the series of summer schools by the International Doctorate Network in Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology (IDPASC). From August 29 to September 7, 2022, some 30 postgraduate students from 6 countries were learning about both theoretical and experimental sides of a broad selection of topics in physics with emphasis being put on the connections between the areas explored. The group of lecturers comprised both of top contemporary theoreticians and key members of the leading international experiments – CERN, IceCube Neutrino Observatory, Pierra Auger Observatory, Cherenkov Telescope Array, Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory and other projects.

Also held as a part of the summer school was a public lecture entitled „Icefishing for neutrinos”, which was given by prof. Francis Halzen from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in USA, the principal investigator of the  IceCube Neutrino Observatory. The recording of the lecture is available here, and an interview with prof. Halzen here.

Acting as a lecturer at the school was also Dr. Ralph Engel from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the current spokesperson of the Pierre Auger Collaboration. An interview in which he speaks about his journey in physics of cosmic ray showers is available here. Present at the school was also the founder of IDPASC prof. Mario Pimenta, the president of the Laboratory for experimental particle physics in Portugal, who also gave an interview, which is available here.

The album of photographs from the school can be viewed here.