James Peter Gomes, an undergraduate student of Physics at Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB), has achieved a significant milestone by participating in the prestigious CERN Summer Student Program 2024. 

James, who is also associated with IUB’s Center for Computational and Data Sciences (CCDS) as a research student, was the only Bangladeshi among the 300 students selected from around 10,500 applicants globally. The fully-funded, eight-week program took place at CERN's Meyrin site in Geneva, Switzerland, from June 24 to August 16.

CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is one of the world's leading centers for scientific research. CERN is known for its pioneering work in particle physics, especially the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator.

Reflecting on his experience, James stated, "During the internship, I worked with the LHCb [Large Hadron Collider beauty] Detector Group (EP-LBD), focusing on CP violation, which distinguishes between particles and antiparticles. This asymmetry is crucial for cosmological observations and requires precise statistics from LHC collision data. My role involved testing and integrating the GPU-based simulation prototype, AdePT, into the Gaussino simulation framework for the LHCb experiment, aimed at enhancing the efficiency and accuracy of particle physics simulations."

James highlighted the comprehensive support provided by the program, including health insurance, a full travel allowance, and a daily stipend, along with access to CERN’s state-of-the-art laboratories, libraries, and computing resources.

He further emphasized the interdisciplinary nature of the program, mentioning that nearly a third of the participants were from Computer Science and Engineering backgrounds. “My prior knowledge of specialized tools like ROOT, Pythia8, GEANT4, and FeynCalc was invaluable in securing this opportunity, which was particularly computing-intensive," he said.

James expressed deep gratitude to his supervisor Arshad Momen, PhD, Director of Research and Professor at the Department of Physical Sciences at IUB, for his mentorship and guidance.

BDST: 1908 HRS, SEP 5, 2024
MSK