🔬🌟 We are delighted to have had the opportunity to talk to postdoc Šejla Hadžić from the field of physics in our second BH academic interview! 🎓
Her field of research is experimental physics, with a focus on the development of elementary particle detectors. 💫🏢
She is currently carrying out her research at the Semiconductor Laboratory of the Max Planck Society, one of the world's leading research organisations, whose scientists have so far won as many as 39 Nobel Prizes! 🥇🌍
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our interviewee for her cooperation; below you can read what we talked about.
1. In layperson's terms, what is your research about, and why is it important?
My research is in the field of experimental physics, with a focus on the development of elementary particle detectors. Detectors play a key role in experiments in this field, because without them it would be impossible to collect the data that contain potential new discoveries or information enabling us to better understand the world we live in. What makes such experiments challenging is the fact that the components needed to build elementary particle detectors are not commercially available, since the conditions in which a detector has to operate are unique in the world and differ from experiment to experiment. In a broader sense, the aim of my research is to arrive at a version of the detector system that will meet the requirements of the experiment in the best possible way.
2. Last year you defended your PhD and you are now a postdoc. In which direction has your research continued compared with your PhD topic?
My research is still related to the development of particle detectors, but with a few key differences. First of all, the sensors I am currently working with have a completely different design and purpose, which means they have different properties and expected performance, and the testing methods also differ. In addition, as a doctoral student I was part of the ATLAS collaboration, which numbers thousands of physicists. My current team is considerably smaller, but the research is even more exciting for me, because I have the opportunity to contribute to more aspects of the development of the detector system.
3. Looking back on your PhD journey from your current perspective, what advice would you give yourself before starting your doctoral studies?
Planning and good organisation are extremely important for successful doctoral studies, but still, be less hard on yourself when it comes to situations beyond your control.
4. When we look at scientific papers in your field, they can have several thousand authors. Can you explain to researchers from other fields how this actually works?
To answer this question, I should first explain how a huge experiment like ATLAS works. The ATLAS experiment is a global project with contributions from institutions all over the world. Researchers and scientists from hundreds of universities and laboratories contribute to the project, each bringing unique skills and resources. The concept for the ATLAS detector was presented in 1992, and construction was completed in 2008. Over those 16 years, thousands of people took part in the process of designing, simulating and building the detector. The ATLAS detector has been in operation since 2008. Operating, running and analysing data from such a system requires a large number of experts. Although the person operating the detector may not have analysed the data presented in a particular scientific paper, that paper would not exist without the person operating the detector. Taking all this into account, the ATLAS collaboration uses an authorship model in which every person who has made a significant contribution to software or hardware development, operations or data analysis during a given period is granted authorship of scientific papers. In this way, the collective effort required in projects of this size is recognised.
5. How much access do researchers from BiH have to such large projects as ATLAS, and how can they take part in such projects?
CERN's projects are funded by its member states. Students from one of those countries have the opportunity to take part in projects such as ATLAS in several ways, whether through cooperation via a university or a research institution, or they can apply directly to the vacancies that CERN publishes. Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a member state, so our students face a large number of obstacles and cannot be involved in CERN's projects so easily directly from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The situation is somewhat easier for students who are currently abroad and can use the privileges that member states have. If I am not mistaken, a cooperation agreement between the University of Sarajevo and CERN was signed last year, and I hope this will open up more opportunities for our students.
