Joint educational project at NBI

The project is aimed at introducing bachelor students in Physics to the analysis of so called timestamped data. The experimental data will be marked with date and time of day, with accuracy to a small fraction of a second, when a certain event occurs. The timestamp information is in general relevant in several fields for correlation and synchronization measurements: Ranging from scientific data from astrophysics such as supernova neutrinos and gravitational waves to commercial data used for trading stocks and commodities. 

Students in the teaching laboratories will collect and analyze data on cosmic ray flux, at the same time in three locations (Copenhagen, Prague and Milan), with the same type of equipment and with a precise timestamp added using Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard technology.
The outcome is to grasp the techniques of synchronization with the data collected in the three universities and perform checks on the data systematic errors. Soft skills like teamwork, communication, and critical thinking, will be acquired with this international collaboration at distance.

Alessandra Camplani is the project lead in Copenhagen: “I am looking forward to creating an international educational laboratory, to get in contact with the students and involve them in our activities in the context of experimental particle physics”, which is her own scientific field. But that’s not all the project has to offer the students: “With this grant we prove that we can go beyond the limits of the pandemic. Through the online solutions that we daily use in our collaborations, we can offer an international experience to our students as well. In the long term we wish to expand this innovative educational activity to other partner-universities. This grant is also important to highlight the 4EU+ Alliance, where the Copenhagen University is an active member and where new international opportunities are continuously created”.