An 'Undeniably Life-Changing' Spring Break

Spring break took four Saints not to the beach but to Switzerland to visit CERN - the world's preeminent particle physics lab.

Cooper Kaupelis '28, Robert Oechslin '28, Emily Rensch '29 and Katie Savatore '29 traveled to Geneva with Matt Bellis, Ph.D., professor of physics, to attend the 5th Data Preservation in High Energy Physics (DPHEP) workshop. The event brings together scientists from many different experiments and labs to brainstorm how to preserve their data for future generations and make it open and available to all, not just the scientists working to collect it.

"Being granted the opportunity to go to CERN was undeniably life-changing," said Salvatore, who plans to pursue a doctorate in astrophysics after graduating from Siena. "Simply being surrounded by fellow physicists allowed me to envision what my career may turn into in the future, which was an experience that I will never forget."

Bellis explained that particle physicists study the smallest constituents of matter and how they interact in an effort to understand "how we got here and how this all works." CERN is the home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a 17-mile in circumference proton-accelerator, and the location of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, a collaboration in which Bellis takes part. In his role as co-coordinator of the Data Preservation and Open Access group within CMS, he presented updates on that work and on a related analysis with a different experiment.

Even as a freshman, Rensch was contributing to this research and had the confidence to present to a group of seasoned physicists. She spoke about her efforts using AI to analyze journal articles to understand how scientists are using CERN's open data.

"I feel that going to CERN really helped me explore particle physics more," she said. "It was an amazing experience and I got to learn so much about the different experiments run at the campus."

All four students work with Bellis on analyses that use publicly open particle physics data from the CMS experiment. Rensch and Salvatore are working with him to prepare materials for a workshop they plan to run for high school and college/university instructors on how to use these data in their classrooms and to solicit ideas on what new materials team Siena can provide.

The trip was funded by Bellis' National Science Foundation grant, with supplemental support from Siena's Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (CURCA).

Kaupelis and Oechslin are working on two fronts: to build out the framework for new analyses using open data and to prepare for a workshop this summer for local high school teachers, where they will build cloud chambers for use in classrooms.

"I have so many amazing memories of our trip to CERN but the one that stands out the most was our sit-in at Cornell University's weekly meeting where the Ph.D. students reviewed the research they had done over the week," said Oechslin. "It was so cool to see how much work goes into the research behind such a massive operation and to see what I could be doing if I decide to get my Ph.D. in particle physics."

Exploring future academic and career options - and the Swiss countryside - were also on the agenda for Kaupelis.

"This opportunity has been an amazing experience," he said. "I had the chance to see a new country while studying something I'm passionate about, and I took a look at a potential future career goal of mine!"