KSETA Topical Courses March 2026

Mar 2, 2026, 9:00 AM → Mar 31, 2026, 5:00 PM Europe/Berlin

The next KSETA Topical Courses will be held from March 2 - 6 and 23-31, 2026.

Please find here an overview about the courses and the timetable. 

Registration is open until February 23, 2026

If you are not going to attend any of the courses you have registered for, please modify your registration or send an email to Eleonora Trynieieva.

Please note: all slides provided are not available for further use but for viewing only.

Note that you should attend a full course to be included in the KSETA transcript. 

Mon, March 2

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Effective Field Theory at the LHC: From concepts to measurements

This course provides an introduction to the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework, mainly tailored to experimental particle physicists but also accessible to phenomenologists. After outlining the basic philosophy of the EFT approach and its role as a systematic extension of the Standard Model, we will focus on concrete applications in collider physics. The lectures will cover the structure and main assumptions of the SMEFT and other commonly used benchmark models, with particular emphasis on how EFT interpretations are embedded in real analyses: from operator choices and parameterizations to signal modelling and the statistical analysis. Time permitting, a hands‑on session will guide participants through a typical EFT measurement workflow, from Monte Carlo event generation to the extraction of confidence intervals in a simple use case.

Convener: Matteo Presilla (KIT)

1:30 PM → 4:45 PM Statistics for Physicists

"This course introduces the core statistical concepts needed to carry out data analyses in physics. We begin with the fundamentals of probability theory, so no prior exposure to statistics is required. Building on this foundation, we will explore the two major paradigms of statistical inference: Frequentist and Bayesian.
On the Frequentist side, we will learn how to use data to estimate physical quantities, study the properties of estimators, and develop a general framework based on Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). We will then turn to hypothesis testing, where we will revisit the classic Neyman–Pearson lemma, followed by methods for constructing confidence intervals.
In the final part of the course, we shift to Bayesian inference, a conceptually different approach that introduces its own techniques and tools. Starting from Bayes’ theorem, we will see how prior information and data combine to yield posterior distributions for parameter inference and model comparison. We will also discuss the conceptual contrasts between Bayesian and Frequentist thinking, highlighting their differences and points of agreement.
After completing this course, you will have gained the foundational knowledge and practical skills required to embark on your own data analyses in astro- and particle physics."

Convener: Philipp Eller

Tue, March 3

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Effective Field Theory at the LHC: From concepts to measurements

This course provides an introduction to the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework, mainly tailored to experimental particle physicists but also accessible to phenomenologists. After outlining the basic philosophy of the EFT approach and its role as a systematic extension of the Standard Model, we will focus on concrete applications in collider physics. The lectures will cover the structure and main assumptions of the SMEFT and other commonly used benchmark models, with particular emphasis on how EFT interpretations are embedded in real analyses: from operator choices and parameterizations to signal modelling and the statistical analysis. Time permitting, a hands‑on session will guide participants through a typical EFT measurement workflow, from Monte Carlo event generation to the extraction of confidence intervals in a simple use case.

Convener: Matteo Presilla (KIT)

1:30 PM → 4:45 PM Statistics for Physicists

"This course introduces the core statistical concepts needed to carry out data analyses in physics. We begin with the fundamentals of probability theory, so no prior exposure to statistics is required. Building on this foundation, we will explore the two major paradigms of statistical inference: Frequentist and Bayesian.
On the Frequentist side, we will learn how to use data to estimate physical quantities, study the properties of estimators, and develop a general framework based on Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). We will then turn to hypothesis testing, where we will revisit the classic Neyman–Pearson lemma, followed by methods for constructing confidence intervals.
In the final part of the course, we shift to Bayesian inference, a conceptually different approach that introduces its own techniques and tools. Starting from Bayes’ theorem, we will see how prior information and data combine to yield posterior distributions for parameter inference and model comparison. We will also discuss the conceptual contrasts between Bayesian and Frequentist thinking, highlighting their differences and points of agreement.
After completing this course, you will have gained the foundational knowledge and practical skills required to embark on your own data analyses in astro- and particle physics."

Convener: Philipp Eller

Wed, March 4

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Statistics for Physicists

"This course introduces the core statistical concepts needed to carry out data analyses in physics. We begin with the fundamentals of probability theory, so no prior exposure to statistics is required. Building on this foundation, we will explore the two major paradigms of statistical inference: Frequentist and Bayesian.
On the Frequentist side, we will learn how to use data to estimate physical quantities, study the properties of estimators, and develop a general framework based on Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE). We will then turn to hypothesis testing, where we will revisit the classic Neyman–Pearson lemma, followed by methods for constructing confidence intervals.
In the final part of the course, we shift to Bayesian inference, a conceptually different approach that introduces its own techniques and tools. Starting from Bayes’ theorem, we will see how prior information and data combine to yield posterior distributions for parameter inference and model comparison. We will also discuss the conceptual contrasts between Bayesian and Frequentist thinking, highlighting their differences and points of agreement.
After completing this course, you will have gained the foundational knowledge and practical skills required to embark on your own data analyses in astro- and particle physics."

Convener: Philipp Eller

1:30 PM → 4:45 PM Effective Field Theory at the LHC: From concepts to measurements

This course provides an introduction to the Effective Field Theory (EFT) framework, mainly tailored to experimental particle physicists but also accessible to phenomenologists. After outlining the basic philosophy of the EFT approach and its role as a systematic extension of the Standard Model, we will focus on concrete applications in collider physics. The lectures will cover the structure and main assumptions of the SMEFT and other commonly used benchmark models, with particular emphasis on how EFT interpretations are embedded in real analyses: from operator choices and parameterizations to signal modelling and the statistical analysis. Time permitting, a hands‑on session will guide participants through a typical EFT measurement workflow, from Monte Carlo event generation to the extraction of confidence intervals in a simple use case.

Convener: Matteo Presilla (KIT)

Thu, March 5

9:00 AM → 12:30 PM Allyship

tbd

Convener: Mina Mangal (Diversity Connects)

1:30 PM → 5:00 PM Allyship

tbd

Convener: Mina Mangal (Diversity Connects)

Mon, March 23

9:00 AM → 5:00 PM Scientific Presentation

This is an activity-based workshop with plenty of opportunities for you to practice, discuss, give and receive feedback. It is imperative that you attend the full session. The Scientific Presentation workshop aims to provide you with the necessary skills to successfully and dynamically present the relevance of your work and the core message of your talk. It imparts necessary skills to successfully and appealingly present scientific papers at conferences, and to be able to confidently defend research results during discussions. It also addresses non-verbal communications such as appropriate and fluid body language; the ability to listen and react generously; and to integrate focusing techniques which magnify the power of the speaker.

Convener: Erika Magyarosi (IMPETUS)

9:00 AM → 5:00 PM Scientific Writing

Young scientists can benefit from the workshop because they receive information about what makes a clear, concise, and compelling manuscript. They also have the chance to receive individual feedback on their own manuscripts, so they can make changes in their texts in parallel to learning the theory. In addition, the workshop addresses typical challenges with scientific writing and offers guidance about overcoming those obstacles.

Convener: CJ Fitzsimons (Leadership Sculptor)

Tue, March 24

9:00 AM → 5:00 PM Scientific Presentation

This is an activity-based workshop with plenty of opportunities for you to practice, discuss, give and receive feedback. It is imperative that you attend the full session. The Scientific Presentation workshop aims to provide you with the necessary skills to successfully and dynamically present the relevance of your work and the core message of your talk. It imparts necessary skills to successfully and appealingly present scientific papers at conferences, and to be able to confidently defend research results during discussions. It also addresses non-verbal communications such as appropriate and fluid body language; the ability to listen and react generously; and to integrate focusing techniques which magnify the power of the speaker.

Convener: Erika Magyarosi (IMPETUS)

9:00 AM → 5:00 PM Scientific Writing

Young scientists can benefit from the workshop because they receive information about what makes a clear, concise, and compelling manuscript. They also have the chance to receive individual feedback on their own manuscripts, so they can make changes in their texts in parallel to learning the theory. In addition, the workshop addresses typical challenges with scientific writing and offers guidance about overcoming those obstacles.

Convener: CJ Fitzsimons (Leadership Sculptor)

Wed, March 25

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Quantum Computing: From Theory to Practice

Quantum computers are expected to solve specific computational tasks—ranging from factoring to molecular simulations—substantially faster than conventional computers. Depending on the application, such systems may require hundreds to millions of quantum bits, the fundamental building blocks of a quantum processor. Current quantum processors contain only a few hundred qubits. They are not yet capable of performing meaningful computations, in part due to the lack of scalable, sufficiently precise calibration and control techniques. In this workshop, we will introduce the theoretical concepts of quantum computing and discuss the challenges of realizing a practical, functional quantum computer.

Convener: Benjamin Lienhard

1:30 PM → 4:45 PM Quantum Computing: From Theory to Practice

Quantum computers are expected to solve specific computational tasks—ranging from factoring to molecular simulations—substantially faster than conventional computers. Depending on the application, such systems may require hundreds to millions of quantum bits, the fundamental building blocks of a quantum processor. Current quantum processors contain only a few hundred qubits. They are not yet capable of performing meaningful computations, in part due to the lack of scalable, sufficiently precise calibration and control techniques. In this workshop, we will introduce the theoretical concepts of quantum computing and discuss the challenges of realizing a practical, functional quantum computer.

Convener: Benjamin Lienhard

Thu, March 26

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Advanced FPGA Development: Design, Timing, and Toolflows

"Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are powerful computing platforms that combine the performance and determinism of custom ASICs with the flexibility of microcontrollers. By enabling massive parallelism and true real-time processing, FPGAs are well-suited for high-performance signal processing, data analysis, and hardware acceleration. This makes them the perfect candidate for the readout of detectors and leads to their adoption in many small to large-scale physics experiments. Their functionality is defined using hardware description languages (HDLs) such as VHDL or Verilog, which requires a fundamentally different mindset than traditional sequential software programming in languages like Python or C/C++.
This advanced FPGA course focuses on developing that hardware-oriented way of thinking. Through a combination of theory and hands-on exercises, participants will explore key concepts such as combinational and sequential logic, timing analysis, and common design pitfalls. In addition to core design principles, the course emphasizes modern development practices, including automation of the FPGA design flow, source control management, and the effective use of external tools to streamline development.
This is not a complete beginner course: participants are expected to have some prior exposure to digital design or HDLs, but expert-level knowledge is not required."

Conveners: Ahmed Qamesh (KIT-IPE), Mr Hendrik Krause (IPE), Lukas Scheller, Olena Manzhura (KIT)

Fri, March 27

9:00 AM → 12:15 PM Advanced FPGA Development: Design, Timing, and Toolflows

"Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are powerful computing platforms that combine the performance and determinism of custom ASICs with the flexibility of microcontrollers. By enabling massive parallelism and true real-time processing, FPGAs are well-suited for high-performance signal processing, data analysis, and hardware acceleration. This makes them the perfect candidate for the readout of detectors and leads to their adoption in many small to large-scale physics experiments. Their functionality is defined using hardware description languages (HDLs) such as VHDL or Verilog, which requires a fundamentally different mindset than traditional sequential software programming in languages like Python or C/C++.
This advanced FPGA course focuses on developing that hardware-oriented way of thinking. Through a combination of theory and hands-on exercises, participants will explore key concepts such as combinational and sequential logic, timing analysis, and common design pitfalls. In addition to core design principles, the course emphasizes modern development practices, including automation of the FPGA design flow, source control management, and the effective use of external tools to streamline development.
This is not a complete beginner course: participants are expected to have some prior exposure to digital design or HDLs, but expert-level knowledge is not required."

Conveners: Ahmed Qamesh (KIT-IPE), Mr Hendrik Krause (IPE), Lukas Scheller, Olena Manzhura (KIT)

Mon, March 30

2:00 PM → 6:00 PM What to do after leaving science

tbd

Convener: Udo Erdmann (TIBER)

Tue, March 31

9:00 AM → 1:00 PM What to do after leaving science

tbd

Convener: Udo Erdmann (TIBER)