ALL HANDS ON DECK: LIFE IN NIKHEF/ THEORY

ALL HANDS ON DECK:
LIFE IN NIKHEF/ THEORY
WELCOME
To
and its theory group
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WHY THIS MEETING?
We are a seriously large group (40 members)
9 staff
11 postdocs
14 PhD students
5 Master students
lots of visitors
regular: Beatriz Gato-Rivera, Andreas Vogt, Chris Korthals Altes
long term: Yajin Zhou, Andries Waelkens (Jan-Mar)
Useful to inform you of numerous things, get to know eachother, and
discuss aspects of life in the theory group
You can all be found on http://www.nikhef.nl/pub/theory/people.html
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NIKHEF
Coordinates all of NL experimental
HEP and APP efforts
One workshop
290 staff total (2012)
60 perm. staff (including U’s)
90 PhD students
30 Postdocs
80 engineers, technicians etc
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NIKHEF NOW
Collaboration (Samenwerkingsverband) of
FOM, UvA, VU, Nijmegen (RU), Utrecht U, Groningen
Experiments at Nikhef
ATLAS, LHCb, ALICE
ANTARES/KM3Net, Pierre Auger, VIRGO,
XENON (100/1T)
HiSparc [cosmic ray expt. involving many high schools]
R&D, ICT, Theory [we are like the furniture]
Management light
Stan Bentvelse (Director), Els Koffeman (R&D, workshops), Arjen van Rijn
(Institute Manager), Pieter van Braam van Vloten (Personnel dept.)
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MISSION OF THEORY GROUP
Mission statement!
Mission
• To describe and explain the properties and interactions of subatomic particles;
• To study theoretical models, such as the Standard Model, for predicting and describing new and existing experimental or
observational results, mostly in the framework of quantum field theory;
• To develop analytical and computational tools for these studies.
Role
Pursue its own research
Supporting, informing and learning from experiments at lab
Act nationally as center for expt.-related theoretical HEP
Help in teaching, lecturing, mentoring and advising of students
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OUR (NIKHEF/STAFF) MISSION
Help you do best possible research, through mentoring,
collaboration, and providing good facilities
Develop as a scientist
build a network
deepen and broaden
know about experiments at the Lab
Get you out of here in the best possible way!
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WHERE DO OUR “GRADUATES” GO?
Postdoc
Cambridge, Barcelona, Trieste, Madrid, Durham, Columbia, Fermilab, Santiago, Munich, Karlsruhe,
Regensburg,….
Faculty
IISER [Bindusar Sahoo], Kerala; Kings College [Sameer Murthy]; Liverpool [Andreas Vogt], Glasgow
[Chris White], Leiden [Koenraad Schalm], Hamburg [Sven Moch, Christoph Schweigert], Mainz
[Stefan Weinzierl], Kolkata [Nabamita Banerjee], Davis, CA [Andrew Waldron], Berlin [Jan Plefka],
Consulting
Roland Berger, McKinsey
Finance
Rabobank, ABN-AMRO
Software
Google (2x!), smaller companies
Industry
Shell, ASML,LIME,…
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YOUR MISSION
Do excellent research!
Don’t forget to ask for a Nikhef preprint number!
Interact with each other, you never know what might come out
Work hard, but know when you need to unwind
Sports center across the street, discounts available.
Theorists climb a lot, history shows. Now football, apparently
Be responsible members of the group, and Nikhef
Not only “consumers”
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NIKHEF HISTORY
Founded in 1975
after first plans in 1965
First housed in Zeeman lab at the UvA, at
Plantage Muidergracht, near Zoo
New building finished in 1980
Two Nikhef’s: sections K (nuclear) and H
(high-energy)
merged in 90’s
Strong in computing
one of first 3 websites ever
FORM!
TIER 1 Center
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THEORY GROUP HISTORY
Early: just support for experiments (very few members)
Early days: Bernard de Wit (head), Karel Gaemers (also UvA), Jos
Vermaseren
postdocs such as N. Hari Dass, W. van Neerven
Then some growth
Jan-Willem van Holten (head until 2005), Bert Schellekens, Piet Mulders,
Ronald Kleiss, EL (1998)
In 1998: 5 staff, 3 PhD’s, 2 postdocs
In last few years:
Robert Fleischer, Marieke Postma joined, Bernard and Piet returned
Recent years: much growth in # of people, quality really very good (NWO
evaluations)
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MORE THEORY
also members of Nikhef
VU theory group
Nijmegen theory group (Beenakker, Kleiss, Loll, Saueressig, Ambjorn)
Groningen theory group (Boer, Pallante, Roest, Timmermans, Bergshoeff,
Papadodimas)
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UvA science department
FOM institute AMOLF
Amsterdam University College
US-style college by UvA and VU, bachelor degree only
SARA: computer center
CWI: center for mathematics and informatics
ARCNL:
Advanced Research Center for Nano Lithography, by ASML, AMOLF, UvA, VU
Coming (soon?):
SRON (Nikhef for Astronomy and Space Science)
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FOR PHD STUDENTS
http://www.nikhef.nl/~dgeerts/PhDCouncil/
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Computing
by Bert
COMPUTING ISSUES
Where to get help
Hardware problems (printers, desktops), linux system problems, network
problems, disk quota, standard linux software, software installation
requiring root password:
[email protected]
Problems using software like TeX, form, mathematica, etc:
The helpdesk usually does not know such things.
Ask a colleague with more experience
Google
Problems/questions about Nikhef computer policies or infrastructure,
request for buying new sofware or hardware or other issues the helpdesk
cannot deal with:
Bert Schellekens (theory representative in the CGO, computer user
meeting)
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COMPUTING ISSUES
Online information
Nikhef computing
http://wiki.nikhef.nl/ct
Theory desktops:
List of all desktops
http://www.nikhef.nl/pub/theory/computers.html
User info
http://www.nikhef.nl/pub/theory/ComputerUserInfo.html
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COMPUTING ISSUES
Linux Desktops
Never unplug the ethernet cable! It must remain plugged in the
designated wall socket. Do not try to plug it in somewhere else, do
not try to interchange desktops or plug in your laptop. All activities of this kind require a patch request
http://wiki.nikhef.nl/ct/Service_request
Never switch off your desktop (but you may switch off the screen)
Exceptions: the desktop is blocked or extremely slow, or does not
let you login. Then you are allowed to reboot, preferably using the shutdown
panel, but if all else fails use the power button.
Report desktops that do not reboot properly to the helpdesk.
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COMPUTING ISSUES
Desktop Sharing
You may login (via de console or remotely) on any theory desktop,
run programs on it and store data on it.
But: the standard users always have priority, and your activities
should not have any impact on their work
Therefore: if you want to submit batch jobs to the theory desktop
cluster, try as much as possible running outside normal working
hours, do not use all the processor cores, run at low priority (“nice -19”), and be careful with disk-intensive jobs. Try it on your own desktop first!
The standard user has no obligation to inform you about a reboot. So do not run for days without a resume strategy.
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COMPUTING ISSUES
Data
Storage locations:
/user/username: Backed up, limited space (1 Gb), quota excess at
your own expense. /project/theorie/username: Backed up, hundreds of GB, quota excess
at the expense of the entire group!
Use for data of large computations, but make sure you don’t fill it.
/data/theorie/username: Large temporary space, NOT backed up,
may be erased at any moment.
/localstore/theorie/username: available on each desktop, not backed
up, not directly accessible from other desktops (or use ssh tunnel). Sometimes CT forgets to make this directory or set the permissions.
Then: message to [email protected] 20
COMPUTING ISSUES
Backup
Make regular backups! (not necessary for home directory and /project).
It is recommended to back up on your own /localstore, as well as
least on other desktop, or on a private external disk.
After you leave Nikhef, your data is not preserved unless you make
arrangements.
Please put all your data in a directory named /username. Do not
make new directories directly in /project or /localstore.
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CLOUD SERVICES
In addition to dropbox etc. you can use SURFdrive.
You have 100Gb each available.
Data stored in NL, so more privacy, NSA safe (?????)
Officially recommended by the computer group for
sensitive data.
There are Windows, OSX, iOS and android clients
available (linux with “OwnCloud”)
Nikhef pays per user, so only use if you have serious
plans, not just to give it a try.
ILLEGAL SOFTWARE
…is illegal!
PEOPLE@THEORY PAGE
Newcomers:
(Postdoc, Phd, optionally master, bachelor students)
Please send me ([email protected]) an e-mail with the
following info
•Your name
•A picture
•Field of interest
(Just a few keywords)
•Optionally: a home page link
RESEARCH SCHOOLS
To train PhD students through schools and lectures
OSAF, for experimental subatomic physics
topical lectures at Nikhef, C3 evaluation meetings
DRSTP, for theoretical physics
Driebergen school, Dalfsen symposium, PhD day
Nikhef expt’l PhD students in OSAF
Nikhef theory PhD students in DRSTP
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USEFUL ABBREVIATIONS
FOM [Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie]: your employer/physics funding agency
part of NWO: funding agency for all of Dutch science
DRSTP [LOTN, Dutch Research School for Theoretical Physics]: national organization, centered in
Utrecht, organizes annual winterschool, biennual Dalfsen symposium, PhD Day
aka LOTN (Landelijke Onderzoeksschool Theoretische Natuurkunde)
D(elta)-ITP: association of ITP’s of UvA, UU, UL
HPP meetings: monthly meetings at Nikhef, mostly centered on phenomenology,
plus cosmology
aka: theory meetings, theory center meetings
GRAPPA: a virtual UvA institute involving astronomers, theorists and hep
experimenters on astroparticle physics
vDPA: virtual Department of Physics and Astronomy of UvA + VU
Others? You call out, we explain
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IMPORTANT
NOTE
Travel
Keep an eye on!
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GRANTS
Many grants in the group (hence our size!)
3 ERC senior grants [Bernard, Jos, Piet]
ERC starting grant [Wouter]
1 Marie Curie Fellow [Daniel]
2 Veni’s: [Lisa, Jordy]
Vidi [Petraki]
1 EU network grants [HiggsTools]
3 Projectruimtes [Piet, Bernard, Marieke]
COST network BSM
Of course, we have tried for many more and have always a few in submission
Non-success happens, even for the best proposals.
We try to help as best as we can to prepare; goes also for interviews etc.
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TRAVEL
Travel is important, for visibility of us, and the group/Nikhef
Request travel well in advance
think, ask if unsure which budget to use
Keep finiteness of budgets in mind
Rules: half the per diem without receipt, more with
Our custom: when settling a trip
do not request the default per diem (often much too high)
estimate your total actual expenses and divide by number of days, and
choose that amount
makes our budgets go farther
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IMPORTANT
Travel
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VALUES
Flat structure, no hierarchy, we try to help each other
share expertise, some help with master and bachelor students
I do hear from those who have left that this works very well, so let’s
keep this up
Engage with experimental groups if possible, on occasion, it is
much appreciated, and instructive
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SEMINARS
Ours:
Journal Club (1/2weeks) [Adolfo,Takahiro, Lisa]
Theory Seminar (every week) [Franz H., Gianluca, Marieke]
Occasional special seminars
Nikhef
Colloquium (every week) [Robert + Panos Christakoglou]
National
HPP Meeting (1/month) [Bert + 4 others], Cosmology meetings (1/month)
[Marieke +others]
National Seminar (2x/year) [Robert + others]
UvA seminars
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THEORY JOURNAL CLUB
Start again in New Year
2 or 3 people scan the arXiv of the past 2 weeks, chose each 1 paper,
present the highlights, and generate a discussion with all of us.
No need for much blackboard writing
No need for long preparation
Can be in your own field but DO keep breadth of audience in mind
Start after New Year
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FOM AND NWO
FOM as we know it will end per January 2017
NWO will be restructured into 4 domains
For greater possibility for interdisciplinaire work
Now in the middle of designing new structure, led by Wim van Saarloos
No consequences for employment etc.
Physics in “Beta” domain
Nikhef will be part of an institute organization, but will be become more
independent
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HOW TO STAY INFORMED
Check our home page for events:
http://www.nikhef.nl/pub/theory/local.php
do not only rely on email reminders, manage your own agenda
You can subscribe to mailing lists and/or google calendars (also for
UvA seminars)
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