Impact
The proposed training network represents an innovative way of teaching
advanced graduate courses. There are several aspects that we believe may
make an impact in the way graduate courses are organized.
First of all we are aiming at building a network that will develop
and share advanced knowledge between research laboratories and
Universities worldwide.
At many
Universities such advanced courses in a specific field may be
missing. Parts of the reason for the lack of such a training
possibility is the fact that many research groups are small and
fragmented.
The
network aims at filling this gap.
It will develop a coherent curriculum that will provide the platform
for a cross-cutting theory for understanding and building nuclei from
the ground up. It will also link modern theoretical approaches with
experimental studies oriented at measuring specific nuclear
properties and observables.
These goals will be reached by preparing
and delivering series of lectures,
commissioned from the best teachers and specialists in
low-energy nuclear theory. The resulting material will be collected in the form
of WEB-based
courses, new books, and other educational resources
that use modern technologies. No such coherent material is available.
Its development will allow more specialized and dispersed University
groups to profit from top-class expertise.
The final aim is that these courses can aid in building a broad and
well-structured curriculum for graduate students in Nuclear
physics, with an emphasis on the science pursued at new facilities. For small university
groups, which cannot offer a broad enough spectrum in advanced
research-based courses, this represents a great service to the
community.
Since
such a structured program does not exist in other parts of the world
either, the outcome of our network can serve as a guideline for other
countries as well.
The courses, nine in total (but more could be added), cover fundamental aspects of basic research
in low-energy nuclear physics, of great interest for both theorists and
experimentalists. All courses are taught with an emphasis on current
research problems.
The students will be exposed to possible research projects during the
various courses and will get training in presenting scientific
results both orally and in the form of scientific reports. Every
course is, in its last week, accompanied by a one-week workshop or
school, where the students meet leading international experts.
These experts will present state of the art research based on the
various themes presented during the actual course. The students will
also present their own research topics. The discussions following
from these presentations aim at giving the students a broader view of
a given field and act as seeds to new research directions. As such,
the courses aim at enlarging the students visions of their fields and
point to new research possibilities. By maturing new ideas, the hope
is that this aspect may strengthen the career paths of the
participants.
The advanced training network in low-energy nuclear theory will equip students with
a broad background in methods and techniques that can easily be
transferred into other domains. Students will not only gain knowledge
in advanced low-energy nuclear physics but also in
modelling
complicated systems and advanced, high performance computing.
The characteristic feature of this initiative is training in
multi-scale nuclear physics. This knowledge is crucial not only for a
basic understanding of complicated quantum many-body systems, such as
atomic nuclei, but also for further development of knowledge-oriented
industry; from materials science to biological systems.
Furthermore,
an important aspect of this training is the link between theoretical
methods and high-performance computing. This aspect is crucial for
the knowledge based industry and enhances the competence of
our students. The connection between our courses and possible partners from
the private sector that are involved in high-performance computing
gives our training an added value we feel is strongly missing in
standard graduate educations.
