School of Physics & Astronomy

Prof Andy Buckley has joined particle-physics colleagues from France, the UK, US, and South Africa in a new graduate school to bring subject expert training to African countries, particularly in advanced computing techniques for physics at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, and similar future machines.

The CHACAL 2024 (Computing in High Energy Physics and Applications CNRS-Africa Lectures) summer school took place in Witswatersrand University, Johannesburg from 15-27 January, organised by Prof Louie Corpe (Clermont Auvergne, FR) and former UofG researcher Prof Deepak Kar (Wits, SA). CHACAL was primarily funded by the French CNRS research agency, and with additional support from South Africa's National Research Foundation and National Institute for Theoretical and Computational Sciences. Prof Buckley provided lectures and hands-on tutorials on the fundamentals and current research challenges in Monte Carlo simulations of collider events, and took part in a Q&A on careers and PhD advice.

26 students, ranging from masters students to recent PhD graduates, attended CHACAL, originating from 10 African countries: Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Morocco, Madagascar, Namibia, Senegal, and South Africa. Around 45% of the students and 40% of the school staff were female. To facilitate engagement from a wide array of countries in Africa, the students’ travel, accommodation and meal were fully covered. The school was a wonderful academic experience, with highly engaged students in a fantastic location: we look forward to more opportunities to share research expertise and experience in developing regions.

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First published: 1 February 2024