We work among extraordinary people doing extraordinary things; get to know some of them by reading these quick-fire interviews.
Name: Dr Eimear Conroy
Job title: Postdoctoral Research Associate, Particle Physics
What are you currently working on?
I currently work as a particle physics researcher with the ATLAS experiment at CERN. This means that I work alongside thousands of my colleagues from the ATLAS Collaboration to collect, analyse and interpret the collisions of subatomic particles inside the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), aiming to investigate the building blocks of the universe at their smallest distances and highest energies.
Specifically, I focus on precision measurements of the ‘Standard Model’ of particle physics. I try to very accurately measure commonly occurring processes inside the collider, such as W boson production alongside particle ‘avalanches’ called jets. My goal with this research is to better understand the nature of the strong nuclear force, which is responsible for holding together the nuclei of atoms. I also work to better model what is going on inside the proton, which is crucial for understanding the proton collisions inside the LHC.
Finally, I also care deeply about sharing particle physics with others, and work to create resources for secondary school students to use real ATLAS data to launch their own research projects – I was incredibly grateful to have been awarded an Impact Award from the Oxford MPLS division for this public engagement project this year.
Describe a typical day
One thing I really enjoy about life as a postdoc is that my workday is so varied. After getting home from a morning row or erg session, I’ll usually opt for a quick breakfast and coffee before cycling back across the city to the Denys Wilkinson Building. From there, I’ll kick off my workday by filling out my planner (being in a postdoc role demands a proactive approach to task management), picking out today’s Spotify playlist, and very likely another coffee! From there, my agenda depends on the day, but will always involve the same key players:
- Research: my research centres around the big data analysis of the millions of collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector, which means coding is central. I will programme mostly in Python, C++ to make models, analyse data and create plots to help interpret and communicate our findings.
- Collaborating: one thing I enjoy about particle physics’ huge collaborations is that almost all work is teamwork. Any given day will usually involve meeting with collaborators based all around the world over Zoom or attending seminars to keep up with the latest research developments.
- Teaching and outreach: this is very rewarding aspect of my role. During term time, you will find me being kept on my toes by my undergraduate quantum mechanics tutees at Lady Margaret Hall, and throughout the year I will spend time updating our outreach project, which leverages the publicly-available ATLAS Open data to train secondary school students to do original particle physics research.
- Admin: each new career step in academia brings with it an exponential increase in emails and Mattermost messages needing attention. I also hold several leadership roles within the ATLAS Collaboration, which each involve organising research meetings and occasional in-person workshops, including convening conference sessions abroad.
After work, if I have not trained already, I’ll usually cycle down to the river for a session with my City of Oxford Rowing Club squad. Afterwards, I’ll finish off the day with some combination of meeting up with friends, phoning family at home in Ireland, cooking or perhaps a cheeky Baldur’s Gate III PlayStation session.
What got you into physics?
I think a significant influence was growing up with an engineer father! When I was younger, he bought me shelves of pop-science books, which I’d promptly devour, and we would (and still do) spend evenings watching documentaries about space together.
I first realised that particle physics was for me in the third year of my undergraduate physics degree, during a summer studentship at the University of Notre Dame. As part of the summer programme, we were taken on a field trip to Fermilab, a large particle physics laboratory outside Chicago. It was during this tour, seeing the massive particle detectors there in person for the first time that I was really struck with the feeling of 'I want to do this'! I think this personal experience of ‘you have to see it to believe it’ is a big reason why I’m very passionate about outreach and public engagement work today.
If you had an entire day at your disposal (not at work/studying), what would be your ideal way to spend it?
I think my ideal day off would centre around two things: sport and community. My dream day spent in Oxford would start with a row in the sun with my teammates followed by a refuel with a home-cooked brunch. I would then spend the afternoon out with friends, perhaps watching a rugby match in a pub garden or a picnic in Port Meadow before moving to dinner at a new restaurant or a college formal. Finally, I would come home to wind down with my latest book club book and a glass of wine.
What is your favourite place in Oxford?
Given the rest of this profile, my answer here is probably unsurprising – the river! Sport has always been a cornerstone of both physical and mental wellbeing for me, but rowing has also always been pivotal to my personal life during my time at Oxford. My college boat club acted as a ready-made support network when I first moved solo to Oxford as a DPhil student, and rowing is still at the centre of so many of my friendships to this day.
Plan B: What would you be if you weren’t doing the job you are currently doing?
If I hadn't got into physics, I always imagine I would have ended up training as a lawyer. I really enjoy public speaking and get a thrill out of making my case in a debate – I am lucky that several of those aspects also come into my role in physics!
Were I to have had the same physics education but not be in a postdoc role, I would have moved to finance or a related sector, in a quant research-type role. The analytical thinking and data and model-building experience from physics seem to translate well to this industry, and the idea of applying these skills to real-word problems in a fast-paced, high-stakes environment is appealing to me.