Kristina Gunne studied social sciences and communication at Lund University, Sweden, before coming to CERN in 1996. She first worked as the liaison and communication officer at the Swedish Research Council’s office at CERN. During this period, she was involved in many outreach projects —both in Sweden and at CERN.
Sofia is a CERN physicist with extensive experience in software development in the high-energy physics domain, particularly in deep learning and quantum computing applications within CERN openlab. She has a PhD in physics obtained at the University of Geneva.
Prior to joining CERN openlab, Sofia was responsible for the development of deep-learning-based technologies for the simulation of particle transport through detectors at CERN. She also worked to optimise the GeantV detector simulation prototype on modern hardware architectures.
Maria is the Head of CERN openlab. Maria has a PhD in particle physics. She also has extensive knowledge in computing for high-energy physics experiments, having worked in scientific computing since 2002.
Alberto is the head of IT Innovation. He is an aerospace engineer (MEng) and electronic engineer (PhD) by education. Alberto also has extensive experience in the design, development, and deployment — for both commercial and research applications — of distributed computing infrastructures and software services.
Miguel contributes to the promotion of CERN openlab's technology portfolio, with a view to increasing its visibility. He identifies events and organises pitch opportunities related to CERN openlab’s areas of technology investigation.
Events covered include technical talks, presented by either CERN openlab team members or external collaborators, as well as tutorial sessions and workshops on subjects of CERN-wide interest. Such events are often run directly by CERN openlab, or may include substantial participation from members of the team.
Would you like to learn about the innovative computing technologies that underpin CERN’s groundbreaking physics research? Join us for the CERN openlab summer-student lecture programme. It is free and open to all, wherever you are in the world. Lectures will be given by CERN experts on topics ranging from quantum computing to machine learning, and from distributed computing to open data. The lectures will be will be livestreamed via the CERN Webcast website and the CERN Lectures YouTube channel. A full list of lectures can be found here.
The lectures are organised as part of CERN openlab’s annual summer-student programme. For the first time since 2019, summer students are back on the CERN site. The CERN openlab summer students will each spend nine weeks working with some of the latest hardware and software technologies, as well as learning how advanced computing solutions are used in high-energy physics. This year, 1770 students applied to the programme. From these, 32 students were selected, with 18 different nationalities.
At the end of their period working with CERN, the summer students will also give five-minute presentations about what they have achieved during their projects. These “lightning talks” will take place in September (exact date to be communicated) and are open to all. Join us to hear all about the exciting work the students have been doing – the talks are always jam-packed with inspiring ideas and innovative solutions.
“It is a great pleasure to be welcoming summer students back to CERN; they bring fresh ideas and perspectives to the laboratory,” says Maria Girone, CERN openlab CTO. “We are pleased to be sharing our lecture programme online, so that anyone from anywhere in the world can find out all about the important role cutting-edge computing technologies play in supporting particle-physics research.”
Finally, if you would like to get even more involved in computing at CERN, be sure to check out the CERN Webfest. The Webfest is CERN’s annual hackathon based on open web technologies. This year, a special environment-themed “challenge” edition of the event will run throughout July and August. It is open to all and will be once again held online this year, meaning that people from anywhere in the world can take part. Find out more here.
Members of the “Quantumacy” consortium met in Paris, France, last week to mark the end of a one-year project investigating privacy-preserving forms of quantum communication. The Quantumacy project involves members of CERN and Be ys, a French company specialising in digital trust. The project was carried out through the European Commission’s Open European Quantum Key Distribution Testbed (OpenQKD), with support from CERN openlab, the CERN Quantum Technology Initiative (QTI), and Be ys researchLab. Additionally, it is aligned with the strategy and framework applicable to knowledge transfer by CERN for the benefit of medical applications.
The project was presented on Thursday 23 June at an official meeting of the OpenQKD project.
Emerging quantum communications technologies offer significant potential for data privacy. However, there are many challenges which must first be overcome to unlock this potential in full. CERN’s experience with quantum technologies can play an important role in this work.
Over the past year, this short, investigative project has worked to build a proof-of-concept platform for developing privacy-preserving quantum-communication technologies. These include:
Specific use cases were devised to test each of these technologies. For example, building on CERN’s collaboration with the Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in South Korea through CERN openlab, the project tested ways to use QKD to protect personal medical information shared between medical practitioners online.
As part of the project, CERN also gained test access to a real QKD link with the Swiss Company ID Quantique. Full information about the work carried out through the project can be found on the new quantumacy.cern.ch webpage.
“This project has helped us to better understand the potential impact of quantum communication and privacy-preserving technologies on data analysis with sensitive data,” says Alberto Di Meglio, head of CERN openlab and coordinator of the CERN QTI. “The knowledge gained from the project will now feed into further investigations to be carried out through the CERN QTI.”
“Quantumacy allowed us to implement and test our General Data Protection Method (GDPM) patent whereby data carries its processing purpose thanks to a combination of QKD and homomorphic encryption, demonstrating a possible shift in the way data is professionally processed every day, towards Web 3.0” says David Manset, CEO Be ys Research.
- Andrew Purcell
The Webfest – CERN’s annual hackathon based on open web technologies – will celebrate its tenth anniversary this year. CERN is celebrating with a bumper edition: rather than taking place over a single weekend, this year’s Webfest will run online across July and August. This will enable participants to develop their projects and ideas over a longer period of time.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the last two years have seen the Webfest held online, with over 300 people from 63 different countries taking part in last year’s event. This year, the Webfest will continue in an online format, once again providing another opportunity for students from around the world to get involved. The last two years have shown how students from across the globe can work together successfully to innovate for positive societal impact.
The Webfest has been running annually since 2012, with the aim of encouraging collaboration between bright minds. During the event, participants collaborate on innovative projects and design applications that can be beneficial to society. In previous years, participants have worked on a broad range of creative projects. Last year’s theme of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) saw several ideas pertaining to environmental impact, focusing on SDG 13: climate action. Projects focused on nuclear energy, wildfire alerts, increasing understanding of climate change, and more.
As part of CERN’s Year of Environmental Awareness, the upcoming Webfest will focus on climate action and sustainability. Students taking part will be assigned to a challenge related to climate action, with these challenges set by a project linked to CERN. Students will work together in small teams to propose solutions for the challenge they have been set.
The event will incorporate an introductory session on Friday 8 July, with the winners announced in the closing session on Wednesday 31 August. Between those dates, there will be two further feedback sessions, as well as workshops and networking sessions.
The World Wide Web was born at CERN; join us online to get involved in climate action and make a difference. Together, we can put technologies like the Web, machine learning, data visualisation and more to use in the fight against climate change.
Find more information on the Webfest, including how to register, here. Registration closes on Tuesday 5 July.
- Alexia Yiannouli
Interested in science communication and other related fields? Want to work at one of the world’s leading research organisations, while also gaining experience collaborating with some of the world’s leading technology companies? If so, then apply now for the position of CERN openlab junior communications officer.