Particle Physics MSc(Res)

University of Sheffield

Particle physics has been at the centre of some of the 21st century's biggest scientific discoveries. You'll study in a department that has worked on the discovery of the Higgs boson and the detection of gravitational waves. Our researchers are involved in searches for dark matter and ground-breaking neutrino experiments.

Course description

This course covers the complex theories and experimental techniques that particle physicists use to explain the nature of the universe. It will develop your understanding of the Standard Model by going into even greater depth on topics you might have covered in your undergraduate degree, such as quantum mechanics, electrodynamics and dark matter.

You’ll learn about the methods particle physicists use to study the universe, the experiments that led to the discoveries of neutrons, positrons and neutrinos, and the experimental evidence for quarks and gluons. You can examine the possible explanations for dark matter with scientists who are leading searches for it, and take modules led by researchers who were involved in the Higgs boson and gravitational wave discoveries.

The biggest part of your degree is your research project, which you might be able to work on at a research facility such as CERN. Possible topics include:

• background events in the LUX-Zeplin dark matter experiment
• characterising ultra-fast imaging photon sensors for neutrino experiments
• design a masterclass for high-school students using ATLAS open data
• searching for supersymmetry with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider
• the WATCHMAN Project: Using anti-neutrinos for nuclear threat reduction
• using tau leptons in collider experiments to search for new physics

You will also complete a research training programme, and there are optional modules to choose from including general relativity, particle astrophysics, semiconductor physics and statistical physics.

Please see our University website for the most up-to-date course information.