CERN Accelerating science

Are you a Bachelor's or Master's student in computer science, mathematics, engineering or physics? Do you have a strong computing profile, and would you be interested in working on advanced computing projects at CERN during the summer of 2023? If so, we have just the solution for you...the CERN openlab summer student programme.

CERN openlab is a unique public-private partnership that accelerates the development of cutting-edge computing technologies for the worldwide LHC community and the wider scientific research field. Through CERN openlab, CERN collaborates with leading technology companies and research institutes.

Over nine weeks (June-August 2023), the CERN openlab summer students will work with some of the latest hardware and software technologies, and see how advanced IT solutions are used in particle physics. The students will also participate in a series of lectures prepared for them by computing experts at CERN, in addition to the main lecture series for CERN summer students. Visits to the accelerators and experimental areas are also included in the programme.

CERN is a place where dizzying IT challenges abound. The CERN openlab summer student programme may lead to follow-on projects in your home institute, or may even inspire you to become an entrepreneur in cutting-edge computing technologies.

Full details are available on the CERN carreer website.

Apply by 12 CET noon on 30 January 2023 and open up a world of possibilities!

You can also find out all about the work carried out by our 2022 students here.

Last week, on 1–4 November, the first International Conference on Quantum Technologies for High-Energy Physics (QT4HEP) was held at CERN. 224 people attended in person, with more following online. The event brought together members of the quantum technologies community from research and industry. They discussed recent developments in the field and worked to identify activities within particle physics – and other sciences – that can most benefit from the application of quantum technologies.

The conference was opened by Joachim Mnich, CERN Director for Research and Computing. “CERN is widely recognised, including by our Member States, as an important platform for promoting applications of quantum technologies –both for particle physics and beyond,” says Mnich. “The journey has just begun and the road is still long, but it is sure that deep collaboration between physicists and computing experts will be key to capitalising on the full potential of quantum technologies.” He continues: “Given the nature of its research and the technologies it develops, CERN – with its tradition of diverse collaboration – is ideally placed to support this.”

The conference was organised by the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative (CERN QTI), a comprehensive R&D and knowledge-sharing initiative to investigate applications of quantum technologies for particle physics and beyond. It follows a successful workshop on quantum computing in 2018 that marked the beginning of a range of new investigations into quantum technologies at CERN. The conference was also supported by CERN openlab and was sponsored by Google, IBM and Intel.

“Building on CERN’s collaborative culture and proven track record of developing breakthrough technologies, CERN QTI provides a platform for innovation,” says Alberto Di Meglio, head of CERN QTI and CERN openlab. “This ambitious conference is a vital tool in helping us to build bridges between research communities and with industry, share knowledge, and collate input that will shape the future of CERN QTI.”

CERN QTI covers four main research areas: quantum theory and simulation; quantum sensing, metrology and materials; quantum computing and algorithms; and quantum communication and networks. The first day’s sessions at the conference focused on the first two of these areas, with talks from representatives of leading research institutes discussing topics such as quantum simulation of neutrino oscillations, scaling up atomic interferometers for the detection of dark matter, and the application of quantum traps and clocks to searches for new physics.

The second day’s sessions focused on the remaining two areas, with talks on topics such as quantum machine learning, noise gates for quantum computing, the journey towards a quantum internet, and much more. Other highlights on this day were presentations of the European Union’s programmes for quantum technologies and an overview of the path to quantum computers exceeding the capabilities of classical ones. 

The third day’s sessions – organised in collaboration with CERN’s Knowledge Transfer group – were primarily dedicated to industrial co-development. Industry and academia representatives reviewed success stories from industry–academia collaboration and identified new opportunities for co-development. The end of the day was dedicated to education, training and outreach initiatives, with Google having provided financial support for 11 students to attend the conference. The conference featured a poster competition that saw three posters from DESY scoring highly, along with posters on quantum computing applications at LHCb, IBM quantum platforms and noisy quantum gates. The third day of the conference also featured a presentation on the recently announced Open Quantum Institute.

The fourth and final day of the conference was dedicated to hands-on workshops with three different quantum computing providers.

Read the summaries of the first day’s, second day’s and third day’s sessions on the CERN QTI website, and watch the recordings on the conference website.

-- Andrew Purcell

CERN has joined a coalition of science and industry partners proposing the creation of an Open Quantum Institute. This institute will work to ensure that emerging quantum technologies are put to use to tackle key societal challenges. The proposal is being made through GESDA, the Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator Foundation, in collaboration with leading research institutes and technology companies. Other founding supporters of the Open Quantum Institute include the University of Geneva, the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and Lausanne (EPFL), Microsoft and IBM.

The proposal was launched at the 2022 GESDA Summit. During her address at the event, CERN Director-General Fabiola Gianotti highlighted the potential of quantum computing – and other associated quantum technologies – to help achieve key UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“As it did for the creation of CERN, Geneva can play a key role in bringing science and diplomacy to recognise the importance of working together, in order to develop real-world applications for transformative technologies,” says Gianotti, who is also a member of the GESDA Foundation’s board. “The Open Quantum Institute will benefit from CERN's experience of uniting people from across the globe to push the frontiers of science and technology for the benefit of all. We will work to ensure that quantum technologies have a positive impact for all of society."

CERN has long recognised the potential of quantum technologies. In 2020, the Organization launched the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative (QTI), which is exploring the potential of these breakthrough new technologies for particle physics and beyond, in collaboration with its Member States and other key stakeholders. Today, the initiative runs 20 R&D projects, several of which are carried out in collaboration with leading technology companies through the CERN openlab framework.

“By the nature of its research and the technologies it develops, CERN is well positioned to make significant contributions to the quantum revolution,” says Alberto Di Meglio, head of CERN QTI and CERN openlab. “Building on the Laboratory’s collaborative culture and proven track record of developing breakthrough technologies, CERN QTI provides a platform for innovation.”

“This platform builds on national quantum initiatives in CERN’s Member States and beyond, fostering pioneering new applications of quantum technologies – both for science and society,” explains Di Meglio. “Experience and knowhow from the CERN QTI will feed into the Open Quantum Institute, helping to fulfil its mission of maximising the societal impact of these technologies.”

As the next step in the process, the GESDA Foundation will launch a survey to help shape the priorities of the Open Quantum Institute, which will begin its “incubation” phase in 2023. Members of the institute will work to engage further with UN organisations, quantum scientists and industry leaders over the coming months.

Find out more on the GESDA website. Full details on the Open Quantum Institute can be found in the announcement published by the GESDA Foundation today.

On 1-4 November, CERN will host a special conference on the use of quantum technologies to support particle physics. Find out more about this here.

In July and August, 32 students came to CERN to work hands-on with cutting-edge computing technologies through the CERN openlab Summer Student programme. Last week, the students presented their projects in a series of five-minute “lightning talks”.

CERN openlab is a unique public–private partnership, through which CERN collaborates with leading technology companies – including Intel, Oracle, Siemens, Micron, Google and IBM – to accelerate innovation in the computing technologies needed by its research community. Today, over 30 joint R&D projects are being carried out at CERN through CERN openlab.

Education and training are important parts of CERN openlab’s mission. Thus, each year, the companies participating in CERN openlab sponsor a nine-week summer-student programme. The selected students participate in a series of lectures (available free and online here), visit different parts of the Laboratory and work on projects guided by IT experts at CERN. This year, projects addressed technologies such as quantum computing, supercomputing, machine learning and open data.

“During their stay at CERN, the students are immersed in an environment of cutting-edge technology and innovative thinking,” says Enrica Porcari, head of the CERN IT department. “They also bring fresh ideas and approaches to the teams they work with at CERN.”

32 students from 19 countries were selected for the 2022 CERN openlab Summer Student programme, from 1770 applications. Their five-minute “lightning talks” summarising their projects can be accessed here: http://cern.ch/go/n9Mr and http://cern.ch/go/t6fX. A panel of judges scored the talks, with the top three students receiving prizes from CERN. The top three were as follows:

1st place: Kane Bruce (USA), ‘EOS continuous integration improvements (ARM64, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE)’.

2nd place: Jay Patel (India), ‘Generative models using Continuous Variable Quantum Computing’.

3rd place: Leyla Naz Candogan (Turkey), ‘Boosting online recalibration of physics objects for the 40 MHz scouting demonstrator system at CMS’.

This year’s summer students were also joined by the winners of two recent competitions. Jay Patel, a computer-engineering student from India, was awarded a place in the programme as a prize for having won the QHACK quantum machine-learning hackathon in February. Three other prize winners from the QHACK also came to CERN for a special week-long visit in July. “I was amazed by the work environment at CERN,” says Patel. “I really felt welcomed and, after doing a master’s in quantum computing, I would love to go back and work at CERN.”

Eugenio Marinelli came to CERN after winning the oneAPI Great Cross-Architecture Challenge, organised by Intel with support from CERN and Argonne National Laboratory in the US. He used the set of cross-architecture libraries found in the oneAPI toolkit to develop a new application for quickly and accurately decoding digital data stored in synthetic DNA. “My experience at CERN was very good,” says Marinelli, who is now studying for a PhD at EURECOM in France. “I particularly enjoyed being exposed to the international environment at the Laboratory.”

Applications for the 2023 CERN openlab Summer Student programme will open in November. 

Find out more details here: https://openlab.web.cern.ch/education/cern-openlab-summer-student-programme

On Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 September, the 2022 CERN openlab summer students will present their work at the public “lightning talk” sessions (session 1, session 2)

Students will each give a five-minute presentation, introducing the audience to their project, explaining the technical challenges they have faced and describing the results they have found during their projects. Each student will have the opportunity to showcase their progress while also informing the audience about different cutting-edge IT projects they have been working on.

This year marked the first in-person openlab Summer Student programme since the start of the pandemic, with students returning to the openlab corridor once again. Since some of the students will not physically be at CERN at the time of the Lightning Talks, the decision for the presentations to remain online was to ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to present in front of their peers and the wider CERN community.

Over nine weeks (June-September) the CERN openlab summer students have been working with some of the latest hardware and software technologies. 32 students representing 19 nationalities were part of this year’s openlab Summer Student Programme. During their time at CERN, the summer students, alongside working on their projects, attended a series of lectures given by IT experts on advanced CERN-related computing topics.

Join us on 14 and 15 September to discover more about the exciting projects the students have been working on. The presentations are free and open to everyone at CERN. Enrica Porcari, Head of IT, will give an introductory talk at the start of the first session. On 14 September, the presentations will start at 15:00 and finish by 17:15 CEST, and on 15 September the presentations will start at 15:30 and finish by 17:45 CEST.

You can follow the live webcasts by following the links below:

Session 1
Session 2