Course summary

Examine the science behind some of the 21st century's biggest discoveries. You can work with researchers who helped detect the Higgs boson and gravitational waves, and who are searching for dark matter and leading ground-breaking neutrino experiments. Course description This course covers the complex theories and experimental techniques that particle physicists use to explain the nature of the universe. It will develop your understanding of the Standard Model by going into even greater depth on topics you might have covered in your undergraduate degree, such as quantum mechanics, electrodynamics and dark matter. You’ll learn about the methods particle physicists use to study the universe, the experiments that led to the discoveries of neutrons, positrons and neutrinos, and the experimental evidence for quarks and gluons. You can examine the possible explanations for dark matter with scientists who are leading searches for it, and take modules led by researchers who were involved in the Higgs boson and gravitational wave discoveries. The biggest part of your degree is your research project, which you might be able to work on at a research facility such as CERN. Possible topics include:

• background events in the LUX-Zeplin dark matter experiment

• characterising ultra-fast imaging photon sensors for neutrino experiments

• design a masterclass for high-school students using ATLAS open data

• searching for new Physics beyond the Standard Model