Physics & Simulations

For a long time, particle physics was the core of my working life. For my PhD at the Helmholtz Institute for Radiation and Nuclear Physics (University of Bonn), I studied a time projection chamber (TPC) for the CBELSA/TAPS experiment — that is, how to reconstruct particle momenta as precisely as possible from the tracks of ionising radiation.

Stretching and gluing the foil of a Gas Electron Multiplier

Track reconstruction: developing and improving algorithms in several analysis frameworks
Simulation and analysis with Geant4 and ROOT — scientific data simulation and analysis, comparing measured data with Monte Carlo studies (in C++, Python and Julia)
Statistical evaluation of the results

My master’s thesis examined the stray field of a magnetic spectrometer and its effect on momentum reconstruction — including building a magnetic field shielding. In my bachelor’s thesis, I characterised a novel gas amplification stage — similar to a GEM foil — for highly granular readout with MiniPix pixel detectors.

Outreach & Engagement Link to heading

Teaching physics to young people was always a fixed part of it:

Netzwerk Teilchenwelt (2012–2020): I supervised masterclasses myself and created the concepts for the masterclasses at the Deutsches Museum Bonn — co-responsible for didactics and organisation.

Deutsches Museum Bonn (2010–2020): Developed workshop concepts, supervised groups and helped out at events — from the ceremony in honour of Wolfgang Paul to the Rheinisches Lesefest.

I also supervised tutorials and lab courses at the University of Bonn for many years. And I was active in the student council for physics/astronomy — from local student representation to organising the national physics student council conference (BuFaTa) in 2011.