I have a project analyzing MINERvA neutrino interaction open data set to benefit the upcoming DUNE neutrino oscillation experiment . This project depends on applying for funding that be adequate for travel and living expenses ($6500) in Duluth, MN this summer 2026, a trip to Rice University in Houston in June for a week-long neutrino-centric computing summer school, and probably a trip to Fermilab for a MINERvA collaboration meeting.
The project will focus on neutrino interactions above pion production threshold. The person will be paired with me (Rik Gran ’94) and a Duluth undergraduate who has been working on related topics since the end of last summer. It is primarily data analysis and programming, and includes a look at interaction models but not with great depth. Programming experience (python? C++?) would be preferred but not required, and the summer school at Rice University will help accelerate your skills. Particle physics experience beyond sophomore quantum and relativity course is not required or expected. For someone especially interested and prepared, deeper exposure to machine learning techniques could be a centerpiece of the project, but this also is not required.
Any who are interested should contact me by Tuesday 10 February (!), so that we can discuss by zoom. The end result needs to be an application (initiated by you) shortly afterward that describes the proposed project. (The funding requires the student applicant be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident.) You can see the program and the agenda for last year’s version of the computing school
Thanks–
Dr. Rik Gran
MINERvA experiment co-Spokesperson
Fellow, American Physical Society
Scientific Associate, CERN
Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Swenson College of Science and Engineering
University of Minnesota Duluth