MSc in Physics, Particle Physics

Programme overview

What are the fundamental constituents of matter and what forces act upon them? Particle physics is the subject that addresses the fundamental principles governing our world: forces and constituents. This understanding is formulated mathematically as theories (previously called laws of nature). The subject matter evolves through experimental explorations and development of theories and models. Today, our understanding is described by the Standard Model theory, which has an exceptional predictive power but is incomplete. We explore the predictions of the Standard Model and seek a more complete understanding, i.e. beyond the Standard Model. In practice, we conduct the research in global experimental collaborations. Today, these experiments are mainly done at the LHC collider at CERN.

At the Physics Department at Lund University, the Particle Physics Division is involved in two major experiments at the LHC: ATLAS and ALICE. The ATLAS experiment is devoted to looking for physics beyond the Standard Model, whereas the ALICE experiment is designed to look at a new state of matter called quark-gluon plasma. As a Master’s student in particle physics, you will be given the opportunity to follow the progress of those experiments and to take an active part in looking at the data as it is recorded by the experiments. The students should be prepared to visit foreign research centres such as CERN for shorter periods.

Programme structure

For information on mandatory and elective courses, see the programme website: www.fysik.lu.se/english/education/ start-studying/masters-programme.

Career prospects

The programme is ideal as the beginning of an academic career in particle physics, but also opens doors to other careers. During the programme, you will gain skills in physics and mathematics as well as computers, information technology, e-Science and other cutting-edge technologies used in the experiments. In addition to preparing the students for PhD studies in the field, the programme will also provide a suitable start for a future career at one of the international laboratories. As the experiments are performed in large international collaborations, the programme is also intended for those who plan a future working in an international environment.