ALICE Newsletter No. 393
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No.393,
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ONGOING AND UPCOMING EVENTS
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Photo of the week: “Can you guess who they are, what they’re doing, and where they are? Write to us - or - find out next week!” |
- ALICE Physics Forum: SQM early approvals / previews: 26 - 30 Jan 2026
- LHC Seminar, 3 Feb 11 AM, Council Chamber (CERN): "Observation of deuteron and antideuteron formation from resonance-decay nucleons with ALICE" by Dmitar Mihaylov, Sofia University.
- Mentoring@CERN Information Session: Monday 26 Jan 2026, 17:00
- ALICE Calendar 2026
- ALICE approvals calendar for 2026
NEWS and ANNOUNCEMENTS
- "Building a culture for success" by Mark Thomson, Director-General of CERN
As we prepare to implement the High-Luminosity LHC and secure approval of a flagship collider to follow it, we must work together to create the best possible environment for success.
- "Help shape how CERN improves" New year, new ways of working. Here’s our chance to suggest which processes could be improved at CERN.
- "Accelerator Report: A very busy technical stop ahead of Long Shutdown 3"
This technical stop is particularly intense, being both shorter than usual, to maximise the limited time for physics, and very busy, to make essential preparations for LS3, which begins in June.
- "ALICE welcomes its new management" .. more about the new management on the ALICE website.
EVENTS OF INTEREST
- Detector Seminar, Friday 23 Jan 2026, 11:00: "Advancing RICH detectors: Perspective for the LHCb upgrade(s)" by Floris Keizer (CERN)
- EP Seminar, Tuesday 27 Jan 2026, 11:00: "MicroBooNE’s Search for a Single Sterile Neutrino using Two Beams" by Dr Jessie Micallef (Tufts University (and MIT))
- Theory Colloquia, Wednesday 28 Jan 2026, 14:00: "Uncertainty Quantification in PDF Determinations: a Machine Learning Adventure" by Luigi Del Debbio (The University of Edinburgh (GB))
- CERN Colloquium, Thursday 29 Jan 2026, 16:30: "New Frontiers in Neutrino Physics with the DUNE Experiment" by Ines Gil Botella (Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas Medioambientales y Tecno)
- BE Seminars, Friday 30 Jan 2026, 16:00: "HiRadMat: a high-power beam facility at CERN" by Paraskevi Alexaki (University of Liverpool (GB))
NEW PAPERS ON THE ARXIV
PAPERS IN THE COLLABORATION REVIEW
Papers currently open for comments can be inspected using the link: Paper in Collaboration Review (Open for Comments).
NEWS FROM POINT 2
- ALICE: YETS activity is continuing.
- YETS activity is continuing, and detectors and central systems are progressing with the scheduled maintenance.
- On Monday, 19 January, the DCS intervention successfully took place for patch installation, and a first DCS workout has been scheduled for Wednesday, 28 January at 2 pm.
- On Wednesday, 4 February, the test on the ramping of the magnets - both dipole and solenoid - will be performed, while on 12 February (or, as a backup, on 17 February) the machine will proceed with the annual LHC-Experiment Handshake test.
- On January 20th a fire alarm was experienced at P2 and an evacuation was triggered, affecting the ALICE cavern, the LHC tunnel and the ARC. It was confirmed to be a false alarm by the Fire Brigade, most likely triggered by ALICE activities.
- Shift operations will resume on Monday, 2 February with the cosmics data taking.
- Open shift blocks (to be filled urgently):
- DCS
- 1 partial block starting on February, 2nd (AA-NN)
- 1 partial block starting on February, 2nd (AA-NN)
- ECS
- 1 partial block starting on February, 2nd (AA-NN)
- 1 partial block starting on February, 2nd (AA-NN)
- SL
- 1 full block starting on February 26th (MM-AA-NN)
If you have any question about the training and, overall, on how to get ready to cover these earlier shifts do not hesitate to contact us (alice-rc@cern.ch). Dedicated trainings can be arranged.
- DCS
CONFERENCES
CURRENT CONFERENCES AND SCHOOLS (starting this week)
none
SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES (events within 3 months or deadline within 1 month)
- "Trento" Workshop on Advanced Silicon Radiation Detectors, Perugia (Italy), 17-19 Feb, Abstract deadline: 31 January
- Lake Louise Winter Institute, Lake Louise, Canada, 1 March, Abstract deadline 31 January
- Rencontres de Moriond 2026, La Thuile, 22 March, Registration deadline 8 February
- Inviation for 6 talks, still have some openings (PWGs CF, HF, DQ) Contact CC Chairs or PWG convenors
- Inviation for 6 talks, still have some openings (PWGs CF, HF, DQ) Contact CC Chairs or PWG convenors
- Exotic Hadron Spectroscopy 2026, Cambridge, United Kingdom, 30 Mar - 1 Apr, Abstract deadline 1 February
- CPOD 2026: 16th Workshop on Critical Point and Onset of Deconfinement, CERN, 13-17 April, abstract deadline 1 February
- DIS2026: 33rd International Workshop on Deep Inelastic Scattering and Related Subjects, Bologna, Italy, 4-8 May 2026, application deadline: 15 Jan 2026.
- Invitation for several talks for ALICE (17+3 min). Conctact PWG conveners
- 8 mins Flash talks for Students (instead of posters)
- BEACH2026: 16th International Conference on Beauty, Charm, Hyperons in Hadronic Interactions, Florence, Italy, 8 June, abstract deadline 28 February
- 17th International Conference on Nuclear Reaction Mechanisms, Varenna, Italy, 14 June, abstract deadline 31 January
- ICHEP 2026: 43rd International Conference on High Energy Physics, Natal, Brazil, 30 Jul - 5 Aug, abstract deadline 2 February (central submission deadline for posters : 16February)
- 37th Rencontres de Blois — Particle Physics and Cosmology, Blois, France, 10-15 May 2026,
- Invitation for an overview talk: contact CC chairs
SCHOOLS
- International Doctorate School "Frontiers in Nuclear and Hadronic Physics 2026" (FNHP2026), Firenze, Italy, 16-28 Feb.
- ISOTDAQ 2026: International School of Trigger and Data Acquisition, Bucharest, Romania, 1-10 Jul 2026, Registration deadline: 28 Feb.
This the 16th of a series of International Schools dedicated to introduce those with an education in physics, engineering or computing (ranging from undergrads to postdocs) to the "arts and crafts" of triggering and acquiring data for physics experiments.
- 2026 European School of High-Energy Physics, Ostróda, Poland, 19 Jun - 2 Jul 2026, Deadline for applications: 20 Feb.
The School is targeted particularly at students in experimental HEP who are in the final years of work towards their PhDs, although candidates at an earlier or later stage in their studies may be considered.
- Third Advanced School on the Operation of Accelerators (ATSOA2026), CERN, Switzerland, 20-24 April, registration deadline 31 January
| Upcoming major conferences | ||
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22-27 Mar 2026 |
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18-22 May 2026 |
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21-26 Jun 2026 |
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30 July - 5 Aug 2026 |
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JUNIOR'S CORNER
Message from Junior Representatives (Bianca, Rohaan, Sara)
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- ALICE Run 3 Analysis Resources: a collection of all resources and news that can be helpful for people engaged in the analysis of ALICE Run 3 data. This is especially beneficial for those new to the Run 3 data analysis.
- Link to all ALICE Theses
- ALICE Theses website
- Guidelines for ALICE Thesis Video: a ~3-min video summarising the key results of the PhD thesis.
- ALICE Run 3 Analysis Resources: a collection of all resources and news that can be helpful for people engaged in the analysis of ALICE Run 3 data. This is especially beneficial for those new to the Run 3 data analysis.
OUTREACH NEWS
- ALICE visits: visits to ALICE cavern are possible till 19 February~
- ALICE visits this week:
- Saturday 17 January 2026
- All Hallows Catholic College, UK
- Monday 19 January 2026
- Maristas La Coruña, Spain
- colleague’s friends, Switzerland
- Tuesday 20 January 2026
- Werkschulheim Felbertal, Austria
- Cobaty Haute-Savoie, France
- LHC-Germany Office, Germany
- TPC kids, Italy
- Wednesday 21 January 2026
- Hans Riegler Seminar, Germany
- Estonian Research Council, Estonia
- University of Liverpool, UK
- IIS 'Aldo Moro' Rivarolo Canavese, Italy
- FCC-IGEDD, France; Marietta Blau Institute of the Austrian Academy of Science in Vienna, Austria;
- Press visit : youtuber Marco Reps, Germany
- Thursday 22 January 2026
- Armenian Teacher Programme
- Accueil des Villes Francaise du Grand Annecy, France
- ALICE members’ friends, Greece, Ukraine
- SDU&THU's University group, China
- Friday 23 January 2026
- Cleve School, UK
- Fondazione Golinelli, Italy
- Brazilian students, Brazil
- High-school students, Italy
- colleague’s friends, Italy
- Saturday 17 January 2026
- Recent Social Media Highlights:
DIVERSITY
- "WIT Talk with the Ombuds" Tuesday 27 Jan 2026, 12:15 at CERN
During this session, we will: get to know better the role of the Ombuds, hear key insights from the annual review, and discuss lessons learned and recommendations from the Ombuds’ perspective.
- "25 by ’25 initiative: diversity progress at CERN"
The five-year project focused on improving nationality and gender diversity across the Organization.
- ALICE Diversity Office website can be accessed here. Your feedback is important. You can send us an email that will be treated confidentially by using the email address: alice-diversity-office@cern.ch or send us an anonymous message by using this form.