Particle Physics Programme - Introduction and Key Links

STFC supports research by funding UK physicists collaborating in projects all over the world. The particle physics programme is guided by the Particle Physics Advisory Panel (and based on our Roadmap, which is due to be updated during 2009). It supports physicists working on a wide range of experiments in our own laboratories (link opens in a new window) and university research through its experimental and theory grants, fellowship and studentship grants.

Testing a rack of CMS readout electronics

All Particle Physics is underpinned by theory and the UK is justifiably renowned for the originality and depth of its contributions to theoretical physics over centuries.

Theory is fundamental to the progress and understanding of experimental physics, both in the short term in relating to currently operational experiments, as well as in the longer term of proposing new ideas which will become the focus of tests in the future.

The STFC programme supports theorists a number of different universities theory groups as well as the Institute of Particle Physics Phenomenology (link opens in a new window) at Durham.

STFC is one of the major contributors to CERN (link opens in a new window) and supports UK scientists, both in its own laboratories and in academic institutes, working on all four of the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) detectors, ATLAS (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS), CMS (Compact Muon Solenoid), LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) and ALICE. In addition it funded research to help develop the Grid and continues to support this work, which is vital for handling the massive amount of data that CERN will produce. CERN offers a number of job opportunities (link opens in a new window), including a Fellowship scheme (link opens in a new window), and training programmes (link opens in a new window) to UK physicists.

The study of neutrino masses and mixing is the newest major area of fundamental particle physics and STFC funded physicists are actively involved in some of the ground breaking experiments in this area, such as MINOS (Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search), T2K (Tokai-to-Kamioka) and MICE (Muon Ionisation Cooling Experiment). In addition STFC is funding research into the possibility of developing a neutrino factory capable of producing a very intense and focused beam of neutrinos.

The programme also looks to the future and the possible development of large accelerator facilities and so supports physicists working in this area, partly through funding of the Cockcroft (link opens in a new window) and John Adams Institutes (link opens in a new window) and partly through R&D projects working on detectors that could be used in these facilities.

For more information about what's happening in the Particle Physics community, look at the Hi-Phi electronic newsletter.