I am a physics major at Amherst College, currently a junior. This summer, I was really interested in doing particle physics research, especially within a large collaboration like European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). But as an international student, most Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) that offered this kind of work weren’t open to me, and the few that were turned out to be extremely competitive—especially with last year’s funding cuts.
A friend of mine, who studies physics at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), mentioned that the university is a significant hub for particle physics research, with several professors involved in large collaborations, such as the ATLAS experiment at CERN and experiments at Fermilab. I looked into the faculty research and came across Dr. Hadavand, whose work focuses on applying computational and machine learning methods to improve the ATLAS detector’s trigger performance and particle reconstruction. That combination of computational techniques and particle physics fit perfectly with my interests, so I reached out to her. She was happy to have my help over the summer.
My project focused on studying the Higgs to stau–stau decay channel and developing fake tau identification strategies to refine signal–background separation within ATLAS. I learned a lot about computational analysis and data-driven techniques used in high-energy physics—things like optimizing event selection, handling large datasets with ROOT and Python, and understanding how machine learning models can assist in trigger performance. Dr. Hadavand was busy for most of the summer, so I got to work for a relatively shorter period of time, but I still managed to make meaningful progress. If anyone’s curious about the project details or wants to chat about particle physics research, I’d be happy to talk more about it!
I stayed in off-campus housing near UTA, where a lot of students also lived. Texas heat in the summer wasn’t exactly ideal for daytime exploration, but I did make it a point to check out the nearby South Asian restaurants (they’re pretty good, by the way). I really enjoyed exploring a new campus and getting a feel for the “big university” culture. I was given access to the particle physics office, where I spent most of my time working, meeting other people in the field, and occasionally hanging out in the library.
My favorite part outside of research was probably the game room—it had PS5s, Xbox consoles, a Nintendo Switch, gaming PCs, and even a poker table. My evenings usually ended with a bit of gaming and a walk around campus.
