News

UKRI SHF joins NExT Institute (January 2024)

Congratulations to Dr Shankha Banerjee for securing a very prestigious Stephen Hawking Fellowship (SHF) from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to work on `Precision and novelty in physics beyond the Standard Model'. He will be based in SHEP and RAL PPD.

XIV NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (December 2023)

A successful bid, led by Dr Ken Mimasu and Dr Graham White from Southampton and supported by Dr Ulla Blumenschein from QMUL as well as Dr Jacob Linacre from RAL, to the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC has enabled the Institute to secure funding in order to run the XIV NExT PhD Workshop, to be held at The Cosener's House (Abingdon) on 15-18 July 2024. As usual, it will be open to all UK students in both theory and experiment, will cover advanced research topics as well as coaching on EDI issues, industry connections and career progression. The Institute is also grateful to GRADnet/SEPnet for additional funding supporting this event.

One New NExT PhD Student (October 2023)

The Institute is pleased to announce that one new NExT PhD student is joining its ranks: Ms Mehr-Un-Nisa Mirza. She will be based in both QMUL and Southampton.

STFC ERF joins NExT Institute (March 2023)

Congratulations to Dr Ken Mimasu for securing a very prestigious Ernest Rutherford Fellowship (ERF) from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), to work on `Maximising the new physics reach of the LHC through Effective Field Theories (EFTs)'. He will be based in RAL PPD and SHEP.

XIII NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (March 2023)

A successful bid, led by Dr Ulla Blumenschein from QMUL, to the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC has enabled the Institute to secure funding in order to run the XIII NExT PhD Workshop, to be held at QMUL on 28 June-1 July 2023. As usual, it will be open to all UK students in both theory and experiment, will cover advanced research topics as well as coaching on EDI issues, industry connections and career progression. The Institute is also grateful to GRADnet/SEPnet for additional funding supporting this event.

One New NExT PhD Student (January 2023)

The Institute is pleased to announce that one new NExT PhD student is joining its ranks: Ms Mehrnoosh Moallemi. She will be based in Southampton and will all have formal connections to RAL.

XII NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (December 2021)

A successful bid, led by Prof Malcolm Fairbairn from KCL, to the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC has enabled the Institute to secure funding in order to run the XII NExT PhD Workshop, to be held at KCL on 12-15 June 2023. As usual, it will be open to all UK students in both theory and experiment, will cover advanced research topics as well as coaching on EDI issues, industry connections and career progression. The Institute is also grateful to GRADnet/SEPnet for additional funding supporting this event.

Swedish Research Council Grant to SHEP Scientist (November 2021)

Prof Stefano Moretti, in his role of Honorary Professor within the High Energy Physics Division in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of Uppsala University, has secured - together with local Prof Arnaud Ferrari - a substantial Research Project Grant from the Swedish Research Council (VR), covering for salary, 1 PhD student and 1 PD researcher over the period 2022-2025. The title of the project is `Searches for Higgs boson pairs in the ATLAS experiment at the LHC to probe physics in and beyond the Standard Model' and the latter includes collaboration on phenomenology with the NExT Institute.

Royal Society International Exchanges Award to SHEP Scientists (July 2021)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti and Prof Sasha Belyaev for securing a Royal Society International Exchanges award. This will enable them to carry out over a two-year period two-way collaboration visits with scientists from the Rudjer Boskovic Institute in Zagreb (Croatia) in order to accomplish the research project `Exploring advanced strategies for Dark Matter discovery at the LHC and future colliders'.

`NExT Responsive Fellowship' Scheme Launched for Post-Doctoral Researchers (April 2021)

The Institute has launched a conceptually new post-doctoral fellowship scheme, which first position was advertised here. This position will be joint between Southampton and RAL and across theory and experiment. It will be awarded for 12 months and deployed in `responsive' mode to specific requirements emerging from the NExT research programme: namely, to enable the prompt theoretical interpretation of specific experimental data or the rapid experimental validation of new theoretical ideas. Such a position is the first one of this kind, as more are expected to follow leading to more connections between theory and experiment and NExT nodes. We are delighted to announce that Dr Souad Semlali from Université Cadi Ayyad has been appointed to this post. She will join the institute in August 2021.

Dr Yasar Hicyilmaz from Balikesir University to rejoin SHEP & NExT for Fall 2021 (February 2021)

Dr Yasar Hicyilmaz from Balikesir University (Turkey) wins a Visiting Fellowship from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and Erasmus+ Staff Training Mobility Scheme to visit SHEP & NExT from 15 September to 15 November 2021 to continue his research work with Prof Stefano Moretti on Dark Matter phenomenology at both colliders and via (in)direct searches.

XI NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (December 2020)

A successful bid, led by Dr Andrea Banfi and Prof Daniel Litim, to the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC has been instrumental to secure core funding in order to run the XI NExT PhD Workshop, to be held at the University of Sussex on 28 June-1 July 2021. As usual, it will be open to all UK students in both theory and experiment with an emphasis on gender balance and career progression. The Institute is also grateful to GRADnet/SEPnet for additional funding supporting the event.

Four New NExT PhD Students (September 2020)

The Institute is pleased to announce that four new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Mr Mauricio Ardiles-Diaz, Mr Giorgio Cerro, Mr Jachan Chaplais and Mr Francisco Martinez-Lopez. The first three will be based in Southampton while the last one will also be based in QMUL. They will all have formal connections to RAL. Their starting dates will be staggered between September 2020 and February 2021.

KCL Joins NExT (April 2020)

KCL

The Institute is welcoming King's College London (KCL) as one of its constituent nodes, through the affiliation of both the Theoretical Particle Physics & Cosmology (TPPC) and Experimental Particle & Astroparticle Physics (EPAP) groups.

X NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (February 2020)

Successful bids, led by Dr Stephen West, Dr Jacob Linacre and Prof Stefano Moretti, to GRADnet/SEPnet and the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC, have secured funding in order to run the X NExT PhD Workshop, to be held in Abingdon on 13-16 July 2020 and open to all UK students in both theory and experiment with an emphasis on gender balance and career progression.

More Funding for Dr Harri Waltari and his NExT Project (December 2019)

A third round of congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti (SHEP) and Prof Claire Shepherd (RAL PPD) as well as Dr Harri Waltari for securing further funding from the The Finnish Academy of Sciences and Letters, which awarded Harry a one-year post-doctoral fellowship (thus taking his NExT position to a total of three years to June 2021) through The Finnish Foundations Postdoc Pool, to continue working on the NExT project: ``Probing neutrino dynamics via sneutrino searches in the CMS experiment''.

Two New NExT PhD Students (September 2019)

The Institute is pleased to announce that two new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Ms Shubhani Jain and Ms Giovanna Salvi will be based in Southampton and RAL. The starting dates of the two Studentships are September 2019 and February 2020, respectively.

Dr Yasar Hicyilmaz from Balikesir University to Join SHEP & NExT for a Year (June 2019)

Dr Yasar Hicyilmaz from Balikesir University (Turkey) wins a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) to visit SHEP & NExT to carry out research at PD level with Prof Stefano Moretti from 1 September 2019 to 31 August 2020 on DM characterisation at both colliders and via (in)direct searches.

Mr Ozer Odal from Concordia University to Join SHEP & NExT (May 2019)

Mr Ozer Odal wins a Graduate Student Mobility Award from Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) to visit SHEP & NExT to carry out research at PhD level with Prof Stefano Moretti from 1 September to 31 December 2019 to work on non-minimal Supersymmetric models of Dark Matter.

IX NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (December 2018)

Successful bids, led by Prof Alexander Belyaev, Dr Elena Accomando, Dr Andrew Akeroyd and Prof Stefano Moretti, to GRADnet/SEPnet and the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC, have secured funding in order to run the IX NExT PhD Workshop, to be held in Abingdon on 8-11 July 2019 and open to all UK students in both theory and experiment with an emphasis on gender balance and career progression.

Diana Rojas-Ciofalo Wins Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (September 2018)

Dr Diana Rojas-Ciofalo from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) wins a two-year post-doctoral Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (London, UK) for the project `Dark matter phenomenology in three-Higgs doublet models' to join SHEP and NExT with Prof Stefano Moretti as host scientist.

DIVA Funding Awarded to Prof Khalil for Visiting NExT (September 2018)

Prof Stefano Moretti (SHEP) and Prof Shaaban Khalil from Zewail City of Science & Technology (ZCST) have secured funding from the Durham IPPP Visiting Academics (DIVA) programme to finance a one-month visit from Egypt to the UK to take place in March & June 2019. This is to enable new NExT activities aimed at testing manifestations of non-minimal Supersymmetry at the Large Hadron Collider through collaboration with CMS staff based in the Particle Physics Department of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. It will also be a chance for them to work on their new book "Standard Model Phenomenology'' (CRC Press, December 2019).

One New NExT PhD Student (September 2018)

The Institute is pleased to announce that one new NExT PhD student is joining its ranks: Mr Arran Freegard will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award). The starting date of the Studentship is October 2018.

Two Visiting PhD Students Join NExT (June 2018)

Miss Wendy Carolina Gonzalez Olivares and Miss Daniela Hernandez Otero, both from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) (Puebla, Mexico), will be visiting the NExT Institute over a period of three months starting from September 2018. They are funded by CONACYT (Mexico) and will be based in Southampton to work on beyond the Standard Model Higgs physics.

DIVA Funding Awarded to Prof Seung Joon Lee for Visiting NExT (April 2018)

Dr Sebastian Jaeger (Sussex Theory) and Prof Seung-Joon Lee from Korea University have secured funding from the Durham IPPP Visiting Academics (DIVA) programme to finance a four-weeks visit from South Korea to the UK to take place mid-June to mid-July 2018. This is to enable a new collaboration on a variety of Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and elsewhere.

VIII NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (March 2018)

Successful bids, led by Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Ulla Blumenschein and Dr Christopher White, to GRADnet/SEPnet and the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC have secured funding in order to run the VIII NExT PhD Workshop, to be held in QMUL on 25-28 June 2018 and open to all UK students in both theory and experiment with an emphasis on gender balance.

Dr Harri Waltari from Helsinki Secures Further Funding to Extend his Stay at NExT (March 2018)

Renewed congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti (SHEP) and Prof Claire Shepherd (RAL PPD) as well as Dr Harri Waltari (from Helsinki) for securing further funding from the The Magnus Ehrnrooth Foundation in the form of a `Post-doc Grant' enabling Harri to extend his stay with SHEP and RAL-PPD to work on the NExT project: ``Probing neutrino dynamics via sneutrino searches in the CMS experiment''.

Strengthened Asian Links for SHEP & NExT (February 2018)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti (SHEP) for securing a two-year exchange grant from Kogakuin University (Tokyo), enabling SHEP & NExT members to visit local scientists Dr Tetsuo Shindou and Dr Takashi Watanabe and vice versa. In fact, the collaboration is a three-prong one, also including Prof Cheng-Wei Chiang of National Taiwan University (Taipei). The research exchanges are to start immediately and will be centred around the theme ``New physics models with an extended Higgs sector and their phenomenology''. The research builds on the highly-publicised advances of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and its discovery of the Higgs boson, an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics, which many scientists believe to have companions in new physics scenarios.

Dr Harri Waltari from Helsinki to Join NExT as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with Base in Soton & RAL (January 2018)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti (SHEP) and Prof Claire Shepherd (RAL PPD) as well as Dr Harri Waltari (from Helsinki) for securing funding from the Rutherford International Fellowship Programme (RIFP), sponsored by STFC and the European Commission under Horizon 2020, through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND scheme. This award will enable Harri to join SHEP and RAL-PPD for up to two years as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow on the NExT project: ``Probing neutrino dynamics via sneutrino searches in the CMS experiment''. The appointment will start in the Winter/Spring of this year and includes formal links with Helsinki.

Rome Samanta Wins Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (November 2017)

Dr Rome Samanta from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (Kolkata, India) wins a two-year post-doctoral Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (London, UK) for the project `Understanding the origin of ordinary and dark matter with models of neutrino masses and mixing' to join SHEP and NExT with Prof Pasquale Di Bari as host scientist.

Prof Stefano Moretti is Awarded Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University of Sweden (October 2017)

The prestigious award comes from one of the oldest (founded 1477) and world-renowned (top 1% in the QS World University Rankings) Universities in recognition of Prof Stefano Moretti's work on Beyond the Standard Model physics in collaboration with the local High Energy Physics group. He joins the ranks of illustrious predecessors, which includes in his own discipline (amongst others) the likes of: Roman Jackiw, Francis Halzen, John Ellis, Fabiola Gianotti and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek. Read the Uppsala University press release. The great news has been reported also by the School and University news lines.

Four New NExT PhD Students (September 2017)

The Institute is pleased to announce that four new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Mr Kareem Farrag will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Henry Day-Hall and Mr Muyuan Song will be based in Southampton with formal links to RAL; Mr Boris Latosh will be based in Sussex with formal links to RHUL. The starting date of the Studentships is October 2017.

Prof. Yao-Bei Liu (Henan IST, China) to Join NExT as Visiting Professor for One Year (July 2017)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti and Prof Yao-Bei Liu, associated professor at Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Xinxiang, PR China, for securing one year of funding from the China Scholarship Council (CSC) to support an academic visit of the latter to carry out research in the area of 'New Physics beyond the Standard Model' within the NExT Institute. The collaboration will start in September 2018. See here for more details.

VII NExT PhD Workshop Funding Secured (January 2017)

Successful bids, led by Dr Elena Accomando and Dr Pasquale Di Bari, to GRADnet/SEPnet and the Education, Training and Careers Committee of STFC have secured funding in order to run the VII NExT PhD Workshop, to be held in Abingdon on 26-29 June 2017 and open to all UK students in both theory and experiment with an emphasis on gender balance. This year edition will feature a formal connection with the Scottish University Physics Alliance (SUPA), as Dr David J Miller (Glasgow) is part of the Orgainising Committee.

Amit Chakraborty Wins Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (October 2016)

Dr Amit Chakraborty from the Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (Mumbai, India) wins a two-year post-doctoral Newton International Fellowship from The Royal Society (London, UK) for the project `Study of the CP-violating MSSM at the 13 and 14 TeV runs of the LHC' to join SHEP and NExT with Prof Stefano Moretti as host scientist.

Visiting PhD Student from Mexico Joins SHEP and NExT for a Year (October 2016)

Mr Sebastian Rosado Navarro from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) (Puebla, Mexico) will be visiting the NExT Institute over a six month period during the academic years 2016/17 and 2017/18 to work with Prof Stefano Moretti on `Non-Minimal Higgs Models'.

Three New NExT PhD Students (September 2016)

The Institute is pleased to announce that three new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Mr Matt Chapman will be based in Southampton and Bristol (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Ms Susana Molina-Sedgwick will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will also lead to a joint PhD award) and Ms Sandra Kvedaraite will be based in Sussex with formal links to RHUL. The starting date of the Studentships is October 2016.

Luigi delle Rose secures a STFC/COFUND Rutherford International Fellowship (February 2016)

SHEP member Dr Luigi delle Rose wins a two-year post-doctoral Rutherford International Fellowship, sponsored by STFC and the European Commission under Horizon 2020, through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND scheme. This award is to carry out research within the NExT Institute, with base in RAL-PPD and Southampton, continuing to work on the theme `U(1) models from the LHC to the unification scale' with Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Elena Accomando and Prof Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous, with the specific intent of testing such scenarios within the CMS experiment.

Nationwide Format of the NExT PhD Workshop Continues Succesfully (December 2015)

Congratulations to Dr Elena Accomando (NExT PhD School Director) and Dr Sebastian Jaeger (Chair) who led two successful bids to GRADnet and the STFC's Education, Training and Careers Committee securing funding in order to run the VI NExT PhD Workshop (to be held in Sussex in June 2016).

Dr Tetsuo Shindou from Tokyo to join NExT (December 2015)

We are delighted to announce that Dr Tetsuo Shindou, from Kogakuin University (Tokyo, Japan), will spend two months of his sabbatical (February and March 2017) within the NExT Institute, with base in Southampton and attachment to RAL, to work with Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous on non-minimal Higgs searches at the LHC.

Dr Luigi delle Rose Secures Della Riccia (Post-doctoral) Fellowship to Join NExT (November 2015)

Dr Luigi delle Rose, from Universita' del Salento, has secured a grant from the Fondazione Angelo della Riccia in the form of a Post-doctoral Research Fellowship to join NExT for about one year starting Jan/Feb 2016. His research will concern `U(1) models from the LHC to the unification scale' and will see him embedded within the NExT Institute, working with Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Elena Accomando and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous.

Three New NExT PhD Students (September 2015)

The Institute is pleased to announce that three new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Mr David Englert will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Alex Titterton will be based in Southampton and Bristol with formal links to RAL (this will also lead to a joint PhD award) and Ms Lucy Upton will be based in Southampton with formal links to RAL. The starting date of the Studentships is October 2015.

NExT PhD Workshop Now in Nationwide Format (June 2015)

Congratulations to Dr Stephan Huber (NExT PhD School Director) and Dr Nikolas Kauer (Chair) who, firstly, led a successful bid to the STFC's Education, Training and Careers Committee securing co-funding (alongside the traditional SEPnet contribution) in order to run the V NExT PhD Workshop and, secondly, ensured that it got off to a successful start in its new format, now also including SEPnet-sponsored Diversity, Career and Outreach sessions in addition to the established training and research activities and, for the first time, open to PhD students across the whole of the UK.

NExT Node to Lead H2020 Collaboration (February 2015)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti for securing as PI a European grant (H2020-MSCA-RISE-2014) that will enable the construction over the next four years of a collaborative network centred around Higgs physics research, called Non Minimal Higgs, yet incorporating sharing of knowledge and ideas from research to market (and vice-versa) for the advancement of science and the development of innovation. This will be achieved by promoting international and inter-sector collaboration through staff exchanges at all levels with partners in Finland (Helsinki), France (Paris), Portugal (Lisbon), Sweden (Uppsala), Canada (Carleton), Egypt (Cairo), Japan (Toyama), Morocco (Tangier) and USA (Santa Cruz).

NExT participation in STFC funded ILC project (January 2015)

Congratulations to Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Elena Accomando who, thanks to their roles as theory consultants, appear as CoIs in a successful bid to STFC for the 2-year project ``The ILC as a Higgs factory''. This travel award will enable the UK community engaged in physics and detector studies for a future International Linear Collider (ILC) to re-establish its presence on the international stage in order to be eventually able to participate in a future ILC detector. The ILC is the most probable successor to the current Large Hadron Collider at CERN, where the Higgs boson was found in 2012, which led to the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics. The main scope of the ILC will be to study in great detail the properties of the Higgs boson and the machine may start operations as early as 2025, possibly in Japan.

NExT Student Secures Prestigious PhD Grant (September 2014)

Congratulations to Mr Declan Millar, a NExT PhD Student on a joint Southampton-QMUL PhD programme on the project `Search for Resonant Production of Top Pairs at ATLAS', supervised by Prof Stefano Moretti (Southampton HEP group) and Dr Lucio Cerrito (QMUL PPRC), who has secured a very prestigious ATLAS PhD Grant. This award will support Declan's stay at CERN on Long Term Attachment (LTA) to the ATLAS experiment for the academic year 2014/15, followed by additional support for a further year back in the UK. This grant is a clear endorsement by the experimental world of the importance of the NExT Institute vision of embedding theorists within real data analyses.

Three Visiting PhD Students Join NExT (June 2014)

Mr Rafael Delgado Lopez from the Universidad Complutense (Madrid, Spain), Mr Dris Boubaa from the University of Hassiba Ben Bouali (Chlef, Algeria) and Miss Diana del Carmen Rojas Ciofalo from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) (Puebla, Mexico) will be visiting the NExT Institute over periods between three and eighteen months starting from the academic year 2014/15.

Five New SEPnet/NExT PhD Students (May 2014)

The Institute is pleased to announce that five new NExT PhD students are joining its ranks: Mr Nicholas Prouse will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr John Gould will be based in Southampton and Bristol with formal links to RAL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Samuel Jones will be based in Southampton and Brunel with formal links to RAL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Hugo Prager and Mr Dermot O'Brien will both also be based in Southampton with formal links to RAL. The starting date of the Studentships is October 2014.

Exchange Grant Involving NExT (March 2014)

The Institute is pleased to announce that Dr Alexander Belyaev (as PI), Prof Stefano Moretti, Mr Juri Fiaschi and Mr Marc Thomas (as CoIs) have been awarded an University of Southampton-FAPESP Award for the two-year project 'Exploring Higgs boson and Beyond the Standard Model theories at Large Hadron Collider', involving a joint collaboration between the University of Southampton and the Universidade Estadual Paulista (Sao Paulo, Brazil).

New NExT Fellow/Lecturer (September 2013)

We are delightedto announce that Dr Francesco Hautmann has joined the NExT Institute as Fellow/Lecturer effective September 2013, initially as staff in Sussex and then from September 2014 in Southampton, by maintaining throughout an affiliation to RAL-PPD.

Prestigious Fellowship Awarded for NExT Activities (September 2013)

We are delighted to announce that Prof Ulrich Ellwanger from Universite' Paris-Sud XI, Orsay (France) has been awarded a prestigious University of Southampton Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellowship. Prof Ellwanger's association with Southampton will last formally three years starting in October 2013 and will entail his regular presence therein for the purpose of carrying out research as well as training activities in the general field of Higgs physics at the Large Hadron Collider in non-minimal Supersymmetric models, in close collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti, Prof Steve King and Dr Alexander Belyaev. He will also have a visiting position in RAL-PPD to enable him to engage with several NExT Institute activities, in close collaboration with Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous and the CMS group.

JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow to Join NExT (August 2013)

Dr Kei Yagyu from the National Central University in Taiwan will join the NExT Institute for two-years starting in the Fall of 2014 after securing a prestigious Postdoctoral Fellowship for Research Abroad from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He will work with Prof Stefano Moretti in Southampton and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous in RAL on the project `Probing new physics beyond the Standard Model through the phenomenological study of extended Higgs sectors'.

NExT Secures Renewed HEFCE Funding (June 2013)

SEPnet and HEFCE have announced their plans to invest 13.1 million pounds to sustain physics undergraduate and postgraduate teaching provision as well as world class research facilities, staff and doctoral training over the five years up to 2018.

HEFCE will provide 2.75 million to maintain and expand the network, to establish a dedicated regional graduate training programme for physics postgraduate students and address student participation and diversity issues in physics. On top of the HEFCE contribution, each of the (now nine, plus two associate) SEPnet partners will support and fund programmes of outreach, employability and research, following an overall investment of 10.35 million pounds. In particular, the renewed funding will enable the consortium to develop a regional Graduate network (GRADnet) built on the strength of current SEPnet research collaborations and graduate training whose primary objectives will be to: 1) develop an exemplar programme of PhD transferable and leadership skills training delivered flexibly to create employment-ready physics doctoral graduates for the economic benefit of the UK; 2) increase employer engagement with HEIs including PhD internships, industrially-sponsored studentships and Knowledge Transfer fellowships; 3) enhance the impact of SEPnet research via a clear, collaborative impact strategy; 4) improve research environment diversity through engagement with Athena SWAN and the IOPs Project Juno.

This is an exciting news for the NExT Institute, which has taken the lead over the past five years in developing novel teaching and research methods as well as several graduate initiatives which will enable andunderpin many of the GRADnet innovative activities. We therefore plan to continue mantaining a leading role within SEPnet in the five years to come.

Four New SEPnet/NExT PhD Students (May 2013)

The Institute is pleased to announce that four SEPnet, STFC and/or University funded PhD positions have now been awarded for NExT activities: Mr Declan Millar will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Juri Fiaschi will be based in Southampton (with formal links with RAL); Ms Heather McAslan and Mr Christopher Harman will both be based in Sussex (with formal links with RHUL). The starting date of the Studentships is October 2013.

Visiting Erasmus Student to NExT (May 2013)

Following the setup of a programme of outward and inward placements within the NExT PhD School, we are happy to welcome our first MSc student Mr Hugo Prager (from the Ecole Normale Superieure de Lyon) on a research placement supported by the Erasmus programme to work with Prof Stefano Moretti,, Dr Luca Panizzi and Mr Daniele Barducci in Southampton and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous in RAL on the project `Vector-like Quarks at the LHC'. The placement will last three months.

New NExT Visiting Fellow (April 2013)

We are delighted to report that Prof Stefano Moretti (as Scientist-in-charge) and Dr Venus Keus (as appointed Fellow, from the University of Liege, Belgium) have secured one of the only two Visiting Fellowships offered by The Leverhulme Trust to the University of Southampton for the academic year 2012/13. The award is for one year starting in April 2013. This will allow Venus to start a new collaboration, also involving Prof Steve King on Higgs physics in non-minimal Supersymmetric models, following the Higgs boson discovery at CERN in July 2012. Furthermore, Dr Venus Keus will also engage in a research collaboration with RHUL. Finally, the award also includes matching funds from the Particle Physics Department at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL-PPD) to enable a collaboration with the CMS experiment at the LHC within the NExT Institute activities, coordinated by Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous.

IPPP Associateships to Three NExT Members (October 2012)

Dr Alexander Belyaev (Southampton/RAL), Prof Francesca Di Lodovico (QMUL) and Dr Frank Deppisch (UCL) have all been awarded for 2012-2013 an Associateship to the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) funded by Durham University to work on the projects 'LHC BSM Phenomenology with the High Energy Physics Model Data-Base (HEPMDB)', 'Realistic neutrino fits with GLOBES' and 'Lepton Number Violation in Beyond the Standard Model Physics', respectively, see here for more details.

New NExT Visiting Professor (April 2012)

Prof Shaaban Khalil from Zewail City (Cairo) will join the NExT Institute for nine months starting from June 2012 on a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship to work on the research programme `Neutrino Masses and B-L Extensions of the Standard Model at the LHC'. (See here as well for more information.) He will also deliver a series of `Leverhulme Lectures' within the NExT PhD School on `Supersymmetry and the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model'. He will be based in Southampton and will have an affiliation to RAL as well, through the CMS experiment, of which he is part. His host is Prof Stefano Moretti.

International Exchange Grant Involving NExT (April 2012)

Dr Jaime Hernandez-Sanchez from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (BUAP) (Mexico) has secured the grant `Flavor and Higgs Physics' grant from El Programa de Mejoramiento del Profesorado (PROMEP) in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Alexander Belyaev and Dr Andrew Akeroyd. The Mexican grant will cover Staff/PDRA/PhD exchanges between NExT, BUAP as well as the University of Colima (Mexico) for four years starting from late Summer 2012.

Four New NExT PhD Students (March 2012)

The Institute is pleased to announce that four SEPnet, STFC and/or University funded PhD positions have now been awarded: Mr Robin Aggleton will be based in Southampton and Bristol (this will lead to a joint PhD award,with formal links with RAL); Ms Sophie King will be based in Southampton and QMUL (this will lead to a joint PhD award); Mr Yusufu Shehu will be based in Sussex (with formal links with Southampton) and Mr Ashley Back will be based in QMUL (with formal links with Sussex and UCL). The starting date of the Studentships is October 2012.

New Post-Doctoral Fellow working within NExT (January 2012)

Dr Luca Panizzi from University of Lyon (France) has been awarded a post-doctoral grant from the Science and Technology Facilities Council to pursue research on SM and BSM phenomenology at colliders. He will be based in Southampton and will also be carrying out NExT activities thanks to a secondary affiliation in RAL. He will be working in collaboration with Dr Elena Accomando, Dr Alexander Belyaev, Prof Douglas A Ross, Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous. He joins the Institute in October 2012 for two years.His post has been renewed for two further years in October 2014.

New NExT Post-Doctoral Fellow (November 2011)

Dr Luca Fedeli from University of Florence (Italy) has been awarded a post-doctoral grant from the Fondazione Della Riccia to pursue research on Higgsless models at the LHC within NExT. He will be based in Southampton with secondary affiliation in RAL and will be working in collaboration with Dr Elena Accomando, Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous. He joins the Institute in March 2012 for about one year.

QMUL Joins NExT (October 2011)

QMUL

The Institute is welcoming Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) as as one of its constituent nodes, through the affiliation of both the Centre for Research in String Theory (CRST) and the Particle Physics Research Centre (PPRC).

New NExT Visitor (October 2011)

Dr Jaime Hernandez-Sanchez from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla (Mexico) will join the NExT Institute for two weeks in October 2010 to work on a project titled 'Supersymmetric models with Extended Higgs sectors (including triplets): theory and phenomenology' in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Andrew Akeroyd. He will be based in Southampton and RAL. The financial support is provided by the University of Southampton and the Centre for Fundamental Physics (CfFP).

New NExT PhD Student (July 2011)

The Institute is pleased to announce that one NExT/Mayflower funded PhD position has been awarded: Mr Daniele Barducci from Florence University (Italy) will be based in Southampton with a formal association with RAL.

Grant for a Core NExT Activity (February 2011)

Dr Alexander Belyaev has been awarded a combined grant from the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) at Durham University and from the University of Southampton, in the form of both Faculty and School funds, enabling six month PDRA support for the development of the High Energy Physics Model Data-Base (HEPMDB).

Exchange Grant Involving NExT (December 2010)

A NExT member (at RHUL and Southampton), Dr Rui Santos, has been awarded - upon taking up a permanent position at ISEL (Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa) - an FP7 Reintegration Grant which will establish a staff, PDRA and student exchange programme (also involving regular workshops) between ISEL, the University of Coimbra and NExT. Prof Stefano Moretti is the UK CoI.

IPPP Associateship to NExT Fellow (October 2010)

Dr Stephen West has been awarded for 2010-2011 an Associateship to the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) funded by Durham University to work on the project 'Theories of dark matter', see here for more details.

Two New NExT PhD Students (September 2010)

The Institute is pleased to announce that two SEPnet funded PhD positions have now been awarded: Ms Maria Dimou will be based in Southampton; Ms Nina Gausman will be based in Sussex.

STFC SPG awarded to NExT Fellow (July 2010)

Dr Sebastian Jaeger (University of Sussex) has been awarded an STFC Special Programme Grant for the project 'Connecting LHCb to theories of the weak scale'. The grant runs for a two-year period and includes a new Post-Doctoral position at Sussex. (It was the only grant awarded in the 2009 theory round.) A two-year postdoctoral position within this project has now been awarded.

New NExT Visitor (June 2010)

Prof Shabaan Khalil from the British University in Egypt will join the NExT Institute for two months starting in June 2010 to work on a project titled 'Phenomenological Implications of the Supersymmetric B-L Extension of the Standard Model at the Large Hadron Collider' in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Alexander Belyaev, Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous, Mr Lorenzo Basso and Mr Giovanni M Pruna. The financial support is provided through an International Travel Grant from the Royal Society.

New NExT Post-Doctoral Fellow (May 2010)

Dr Andrew Akeroyd from National Central University (Jhongli, Taiwan) has been awarded a FP7 Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship to be held at the NExT Institute for two years starting in September 2010 for research work on the project 'Probing electrically charged Higgs bosons at the CERN's Large Hadron Collider: a collaboration between theory and experiment'.

Royal Society Grant Involving NExT (February 2010)

The Institute is pleased to announce that Dr Alexander Belyaev and Prof Alexander Pukhov have been awarded an International Joint Project grant from The Royal Society for the project 'Discovering New Physics at the LHC', involving a joint collaboration between the University of Southampton, RAL and Moscow State University (Russia).

New NExT Visiting Student (February 2010)

An early stage researcher, Mr Luca Fedeli from University of Florence (Italy), joined the NExT Institute as a visiting PhD student starting from February 2010. He will be based in Southampton and will be working on extra gauge boson physics in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Elena Accomando. He is supported by a Doctoral Grant from Italy.

IPPP Associateship to NExT Fellow (October 2009)

Dr Nikolas Kauer has been awarded for 2009-2010 an Associateship to the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology (IPPP) funded by Durham University to work on the project 'Optimising predictions for Higgs and Beyond the Standard Model searches at the LHC', see here for more details.

Seven New NExT PhD Students (September 2009)

The Institute is pleased to announce that seven SEPnet funded PhD positions have now been awarded: Mr Patrik Svantesson, Mr Luca Marzola and Mr Diego Becciolini will be based in Southampton; Mr Andrew Williams and Mr Stephan Tietz will be based in RHUL; Mr Anthony Rose and Ms Susanne Boehner will be based in Sussex.

Honorary Professorship to NExT Fellow (September 2009)

Dr Roman Zwicky has been awarded an Honorary Professorship in the Faculty of Science of the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) in Odense for the period of 2009-2014 in connection with the CP3 Origins Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics Phenomenology.

Royal Society Grant Involving NExT (June 2009)

The Institute is pleased to announce that Dr Beatriz de Carlos and Dr Alexander Belyaev have been awarded an International Joint Projectgrant from The Royal Society for the project 'Novel strategies for probing the string scale at the Large Hadron Collider' involving a joint collaboration between the University of Southampton and the University of Madrid. The other scientists involved are Prof. J.A. Casas, Dr J.M. Moreno and 3 PhD students from both sites.

University of Southampton Grant to NExT (April 2009)

The Institute is pleased to announce that Dr Alexander Belyaev has won a grant from the University of Southampton Internationalisation Fund to develop a collaboration with Michigan and Moscow State Universities on the project 'Discovering New Physics at the LHC'. The international collaborators are Prof Sekhar Chivukula, Prof Elizabeth Simmons, Dr Neil Christensen and Prof Alexander Pukhov.

New NExT Visitor (April 2009)

Prof Shabaan Khalil from the British University in Egypt will join the NExT Institute for two weeks starting in June 2009 to work on a project titled 'Search for B-L Extensions of the MSSM at the LHC' in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti, Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous, Mr Lorenzo Basso and Mr Giovanni M Pruna. Financial support is provided by the University of Southampton and the Centre for Fundamental Physics (CfFP).

New NExT Visitor (April 2009)

Dr Luca Panizzi from the University of Trieste, Italy, will visit the NExT Institute for three months. He will be carrying out his research on the project 'Analysis of Processes of Production of Third Family Particles at the LHC in Supersymmetric Theories' in collaboration with Prof Stefano Moretti. He will be supported by an International Travel Grant from the Royal Society.

New NExT Visitor (March 2009)

Prof Abdesslam Arhrib from the University Abdelmalek Essaadi, Tangier, Morocco, will visit the NExT Institute for two months. He will be working on the research project 'Testing extended scalar sectors in Higgs-pair production at the Large Hadron Collider' with Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Rui Santos. He is supported by a Visiting Researcher Grant from the Science and Technology Facilities Council.

New NExT Visiting Research Fellow (January 2009)

Dr Renato Guedes from the University of Lisbon (Portugal), will join the NExT Institute for at least one year as a visiting post-doctoral research fellow starting from January 2009. He will be based in Southampton working on Higgs and top physics under the supervision of Prof Stefano Moretti and Dr Rui Santos. He is supported by the BPD abroad scheme of FCT - the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal.

Six New NExT Fellows/Lecturers (November 2008)

The Institute is pleased to announce that six Fellow/Lecturer positions have now been awarded: Dr Elena Accomando (from Turin), Dr Pasquale di Bari (from Padua) and Dr Roman Zwicky (from Edinburgh) will be based in Southampton; Dr Nikolas Kauer (from Wurzburg) and Dr Stephen West (from Oxford) will be based in RHUL; Dr Sebastian Jaeger (from TU Munich) will be based in Sussex.

New NExT Visiting Student (October 2008)

An early stage researcher, Mr Miguel Won from University of Coimbra (Portugal), joined the NExT Institute as a visiting PhD student starting from October 2008. He will be based in Southampton and will be working on top and Higgs physics in collaboration with Dr Antonio Onofre from the University of Coimbra plus Dr Stefano Moretti and Dr Rui Santos. He is supported by the PhD Mixed Grant scheme of FCT - the Foundation for Science and Technology of Portugal.

NExT Obtains Major HEFCE Funding (April 2008)

RAL RHUL

Following the approval by the Higher Education Funding Council for England(HEFCE) of funding for 12.5 million pounds, to bring together, promote and sustain physics provision in six departments in the South East of England through the South East Physics network (SEPnet), the NExT Institute secures a grant in excess of 2.5 million pounds over 5 years, including a sizable contribution from the Science & Technology Facilities Council(STFC). This will allow for an expansion of the Institute into a wider alliance to include also the experimental particle physics group at the Royal Holloway University of London(RHUL) plus the experimental and theoretical particle physics groups at the University of Sussex (in addition to SHEP and RAL-PPD). This will generate at least 5 permanent positions, each of which will be held jointly between theory and experiment and by pairings of two amongst the four nodes. In addition, the enlarged Institute will put in place a new international visitor programme as well as a novel graduate school (PhD and MSc degrees), which will involve mixed (theoretical and experimental) training and supervision, networking across all nodes, student placements at the experiment locations (such as CERN) and in industry, videolinked delivery of seminars and graduate lectures, annual workshops and a final graduate conference.

After the 5 year HEFCE grant period, the three Universities will continue to support this activity.

This is an exciting news for the NExT Institute, the UK and particle physics in general.

Soton Sussex

Prestigious Travel Grant to NExT (April 2008)

A travel grant to and from Japan has been awarded to Dr Stefano Moretti and Dr Shinya Kanemura (University of Toyama) via the PMI2 Connect - Research Co-operation Award scheme around the project 'Charged Higgs Bosons as Signals of New Physics' under the auspices of the British Council and Education UK. This will enable regular exchange visits between NExT and Toyama over a two year period.

New NExT Visitor (April 2008)

Prof Krishnamoorthy Sridhar from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai, India) will join the NExT Institute during the summer monthsto work on a project titled 'Searches for Extra Dimensions at the Large Hadron Collider and Beyond', financed through the University of Southampton Internationalisation Fund.

New NExT Student (March 2008)

Mr Giovanni M Pruna from Cagliari University joined the NExT Institute as a PhD student starting from March 2008 to work on LHC phenomenology with links to CMS. He is supported by the Master and Back scheme of Regione Sardegna (Italy).

New NExT Visitor (February 2008)

Dr Johan Rathsman from Uppsala University (Sweden) will join the NExT Institute during this month to work with Dr Stefano Moretti on a project titled 'Phenomenology of models with an extended Higgs sector' financed by a Royal Society Short Visit to the UK grant.

New NExT Student (January 2008)

Mr Mosleh Maeedh Al-Marashi will join the NExT Institute from October 2008 for four years as a PhD student to work on LHC phenomenology. He is supported by a Taibah University (Saudi Arabia) grant.

New NExT Fellow (July 2008)

Dr Rui Santos from Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL) has been awarded a FP7 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development to be held at the NExT Institute for two years starting in July 2008 for research work on the project 'Testing non-standard Higgs and top-quark Production and Decay at the CERN's Large Hadron Collider: a Collaboration between Theory and Experiment'. Dr Stefano Moretti is the scientist-in-charge.

New NExT Visitor (May 2008)

Dr Guido Macorini from Trieste University will join the NExT Institute for three months starting in May 2008 to work on a project titled 'Top Quark Production at the LHC' financed by a British Council Researcher Exchange Programme award. Dr Stefano Moretti is the scientist-in-charge.

New NExT Visitor (January 2008)

Prof Kenneth Lane from Boston University will join the NExT Institute for five weeksstarting in January 2008 to work on a project titled 'Prime Signatures for Low-scale Technicolor at the LHC and ILC' in collaboration with Dr Claire H Shepherd-Themistocleous with financial support coming from the Centre for Fundamental Physics (CfFP).

New NExT Post-Doctoral Fellow (November 2007)

Dr Carlo Carloni from Pavia University has been awarded a very prestigious and highly competitive two-year 'Fellowship for Italian Citizens Abroad' from INFN to continue working on the research programme 'When Weak Interactions Become Strong' within the NExT Institute.

New NExT Student (October 2007)

Mr Lorenzo Basso from Padova University will join the NExT Institute from October 2007 for three years as a PhD student to work on LHC phenomenology alongside CMS. He is supported by a NExT Scholarship.

New NExT Fellow/Lecturer (July 2007)

Dr Alexander Belyaev from Michigan State University will join the NExT Institute on a permanent basis as Fellow and then Lecturer starting from Summer 2007. He is one of the leading world experts on phenomenology of the SM and beyond at present and future high energy colliders.

New NExT Visiting Professorship (April 2007)

Prof Abdelhak Djouadi from Universite Paris-Sud (Orsay) will join the NExT Institute for six months starting from 1 April 2007 on a Leverhulme Visiting Professorship to work on a research programme involving the phenomenology of Higgs bosons of minimal and non-minimal Supersymmetric models at present and future colliders. He will also deliver a series of `Leverhulme Lectures' within the NExT PhD School on the physics of Linear Colliders. He will be based in Southampton and will have an affiliation to RAL as well. His host is Dr Stefano Moretti.

New NExT Visitor (January 2007)

Dr Carlo Carloni from Pavia University will join the NExT Institute for six months starting in January 2007 to work on a project titled 'When Weak Interactions Become Strong' financed by a Royal Society Short Visit to the UK grant and a British Council Researcher Exchange Programme award.

New NExT Postdoctoral-Fellow (December 2006)

Dr Stefan Hesselbach was awarded a NExT post-doctoral fellowship for a research project on non-minimal Supersymmetric models at the LHC.

Tools 2010 in Southampton (November 2006)

A successful application to FP6 within the Series of Events (SCF) scheme led by Dr Fawzi Boudjema (LAPTH), Dr Genevieve Belanger (LAPTH), Prof Wolfgang Hollik (MPI) and Dr Stefano Moretti (NExT) will enable them to run the following Workshops: