Dr. Theodoros Geralis. Director of Research at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics at NCSR Demokritos, will guide us – live online – to the CERN research site. He is there participating, as a researcher of “Delta in the ΑΤLAS experiment of LHC.
A few worlds about CERN
CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) was founded in 1954 and is the world’s largest research centre for basic research, numbering 22 member states. Greece is one of the 11 founding members of CERN. Its location (on the border between France and Switzerland, just outside Geneva) symbolizes the international spirit of cooperation, which is the reason for the success of the workshop.
CERN employs about 3000 permanent workers, who cover a wide variety of professions and skills, such as engineers, technicians, craftsmen, administrators, workers.
It is at the forefront of the human quest for knowledge, a quest rooted in the depths of the beginnings of civilization, aiming to answer the most fundamental questions about Nature: What is matter? Where does it come from? How does it hold back to form stars, planets and human beings? From materials science to computers, particle physics requires excellent performance, making CERN a great field of experimentation and control.
It is therefore plausible that about 6500 scientists, almost half of the world’s particle physicists, come to CERN for their research. They represent 500 Universities and more than 80 nations, which, by developing and using the most technologically advanced and complex accelerators and detectors, explore the fundamental structure of matter and the basic laws of the universe.
Dr. Theodoros Geralis is Director of Research at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics at NCSR Demokritos. He received his Diploma from the Physics Department of the University of Athens and his PhD from the NTU Athens/CPPM Marseille. He was employed by several European institutions in Marseille, CERN, Zurich and Oxford before repatriating as Researcher at NCSR Demokritos in 2003 and Director of Research since 2013.
His scientific work is devoted to the exploration of particle physics puzzles like the violation of physics symmetries that govern the particles world, the particles description by the Standard Model (SM) and models beyond the SM, the matter – antimatter asymmetry, the dark matter quest etc. He has participated in many particle physics experiments and projects at CERN and curently is working for the ATLAS experiment.
He is specialist in developing new detection devices of subatomic particles using modern techniques and new materials. He is also expert on automated systems for the selection of important physics phenomena. Theodoros Geralis teaches in the Graduate program of the NTU Athens/NCSR Demokritos and has supervised large number of students for their PhD, Master and Diploma and has communicated to the public many popularized presentations. He has published a large number of papers in international peer review journals of high international impact.