This grant award is made to Professor Richard Hill at the University of Chicago in support of the Pre-SUSY 2011 School.
As a result of the central importance of supersymmetry in modern particle physics, the annual SUSY conferences have grown over the past 20 years to become the dominant annual international physics conferences focused on physics beyond the Standard Model. These conferences are typically attended by a large number of young postdocs and students each year, and as a result a tradition has developed wherein each SUSY conference is preceeded by a "school" dedicated to providing these future young researchers the background to fully profit from the contents of the conference, as well as to educate them in state-of-the-art methods of experimental and theoretical high-energy physics. This objective is fulfilled through a series of high-level lectures and talks by well-known active researchers in the field of high-energy physics.
Funding for the pre-SUSY 2011 School will also have significant broader impacts. The pre-SUSY school will help young scientists to interact with theoretical and experimental colleagues, and to broaden their knowledge of particle physics. These educational goals are important to the integration of young scientists into the community, and to maintain the vibrancy of the field. Moreover, a fund will be made available to help cover the expenses of students from underrepresented institutions, as well as underrepresented minorities and women.
The PreSUSY 2011 school was held on the campus of University of Chicago, from August 24 to August 26, 2011. More than 120 participants from 37 U.S. institutions and 22 foreign institutions participated. It is an exciting time for particle physics as the Large Hadron Collider accumulates data and the search for the identify of dark matter continures, among many other particle physics and cosmological measurements. The annual international SUSY conference series surveys research at the frontiers of particle physics, focusing on physics beyond the Standard Model, new symmetries and the unification of fundamental forces. The SUSY conferences have traditionally allowed a fluid interaction between theorists and experimentalists working in phenomenological areas of high energy particle physics. The preSUSY school was designed to help young scientists to interact with theoretical and experimental colleagues, and to broaden their knowledge of particle physics. These educational goals are important to the integration of young scientists into the community, and to maintaining the vibrancy of the field. The school was aimed at advanced graduate students, with lectures given by recognized leaders in the field. A poster session provided an opportunity for young scientists to present their work and to interact on a one-to-one basis with the lecturers and other participants. A fund was made available to help cover the expenses of students from underrepresented institutions, and underrepresented minorities and women.
