Special Edition: JUAS 2025 will be held at CERN
Course 1 (13 Jan → 14 Feb 2025)
Course 2 (17 Feb → 21 Mar 2025)
Deadline to apply : 10 November 2024
Welcome from the Director
After almost a century of spectacular innovation and development, particle accelerators continue to drive scientific discovery, human welfare and economic growth in fields as disparate as medical therapy, material science, biology, nuclear physics, matter in extreme conditions, and the probing of the fundamental particles and forces of Nature.
The technologies that have built our modern world, and the conceptual framework through which we perceive it, would be unimaginable without them.
The Joint Universities Accelerator School (JUAS) has provided postgraduate-level education in the science and technology of particle accelerators to well over a thousand students since 1994. Most have earned credits towards Masters or Doctoral degrees at our Partner Universities in Europe, while students at other universities around the world and early-career professionals have sought to enhance their applicable knowledge and skills. Many have gone on to pursue successful careers in large accelerator laboratories such as CERN, in industry or in universities.
In 1996 I myself attended JUAS as part of my postgraduate studies in Grenoble. The school was an outstanding springboard for my career in particle accelerators at CERN. I owe JUAS a lot and take on the role of Director with pride and a firm commitment to ensuring JUAS offers young physicists and engineers a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the discipline.
I encourage all those wishing to embark on a career in the fascinating field of particle accelerators to apply. You will find all practical details in the following pages.
Dr. Elias MÉTRAL
Senior accelerator physicist at CERN Beams Dept
Continuing the work undertaken by previous JUAS directors : Marcelle Rey-Campagnolle (1994–2000), Joël Le Duff (2001–2005), François Méot (2006–2010), Louis Rinolfi (2011–2016), Philippe Lebrun (2017–2020) and John Jowett (2021)
About JUAS
Taught by leading European particle accelerator specialists, JUAS is an international graduate school designed for highly motivated scientists and engineers currently studying to complete a Master’s degree or preparing a doctoral thesis. Early career professionals are also encouraged to apply.
Students are required to have a good knowledge of general physics at the Bachelor’s level. Prerequisites include elementary knowledge of special relativity, electromagnetism, nuclear physics and mathematical methods of physics (vector analysis, vector spaces and matrices, differential & partial differential equations, Laplace & Fourier transforms). Some knowledge of signal theory could also be useful. Refresher courses and tutorials are provided in some of these matters, and must be studied before the start of the course.
JUAS delivers a regularly updated, academically accredited programme in partnership with CERN and a cluster of 13 European universities and the LASCALA Erasmus Mundus joint master degree.
JUAS is a long-standing academic collaboration :
Programme
The full programme covers essential topics during 10 weeks from January to March, comprising 2 consecutive courses, which can be taken together or separately :
Each course lasts 5 weeks, comprising approximately 100 hours of lectures backed up by live tutorials, computer sessions and group work. Written examinations enable students to earn ECTS credits from their home university.
Lectures and tutorials are complemented by a series of prospective seminars given by leading accelerator scientists. Participants also have the opportunity to follow practical sessions and virtual visits.
Celebrating 30 Years of the Joint Universities Accelerator School
JUAS has played a key role over several decades in shaping the careers of many scientists in top laboratories, industry, and academia
The Joint Universities Accelerator School (JUAS), which has trained over 1,400 students since it opened, celebrated its 30th anniversary recently with an event at CERN’s Science Gateway.
JUAS is an international educational programme established in 1994 and has been attended by many students who have gone on to hold top positions in leading laboratories, companies and in academia.
The school’s participants benefit from lectures, tutorials, practical sessions, and visits to research facilities, gaining hands-on experience and insights from leading particle accelerator specialists.
The 30th anniversary celebrations, held in November 2024, were opened by the current JUAS director and JUAS alumnus Elias Métral, a senior accelerator physicist in CERN’s Beams Department.
“I myself attended JUAS as part of my postgraduate studies and the school was an outstanding springboard for my career in particle accelerators,” Métral said. “I owe JUAS a lot and I took on the role of director in 2021 with pride and a firm commitment to ensuring JUAS offers young physicists and engineers a comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to the discipline.”
“I encourage all those wishing to embark on a career in the fascinating field of particle accelerators to apply to JUAS,” he added.
A key highlight of the event was the launch of the JUAS book, which is aimed at beginners starting out in particle accelerator physics. Over 60 authors contributed their expertise to the book, which is freely available online.
“I am very happy with the book,” Métral said. “With its 2,371 pages, including many exercises and solutions, it should be a valuable resource for future students.”
Congratulations to all our 2024 Director’s Award winners who were honored in a ceremony on November 8 in the Building 50 Auditorium at Berkeley Lab.
ATAP researchers and operations staff were recognized in this year’s Director’s Awards for their exceptional contributions to supporting Berkeley Lab’s mission and strategic goals.
Student testimonies
César Andrés PEREZ ROBINSON – JUAS 2023
MASTER LASCALA, UNIVERSITE PARIS-SACLAY (FRANCE), UNIVERSITA DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA (ITALY)
The JUAS courses are a unique opportunity to immerse yourself into the accelerator field. With hands on experiences, expert lectures and wonderful camaraderie, JUAS is an intensive program that will only leave you wishing for more.
Davide ANNUCCI – JUAS 2023
PHD, UNIVERSITA DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA (ITALY)
The visits, the workshops and the practical days were particularily useful to touch with hands what we have seen during the lectures. The interaction with the professors and other students is one of the most valuable aspect of this intense experience. I’ve met many future colleagues, and many friendships born here will last a lifetime.
Alistair MUIR – JUAS 2023
PHD, ROSTOCK UNIVERSITY (GERMANY)
As a capable but by no means top-of-the-class physicist, I came to JUAS expecting to have to work like hell to keep up. I wasn’t wrong, but I’ve never had so much fun. I learned a great deal and gained so much with so many bright people for a few weeks. Highly recommended!
Lucio Crincoli – JUAS 2022
PHD, UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA (ITALY)
JUAS opened new horizons for me in the world of particle accelerators, with amazing insights into their applications and also to virtually access the most important accelerator facilities in the world.
Lorenzo Crescimbeni – JUAS 2022
PHD, GOETHE UNIVERSITY FRANKFURT (GERMANY)
I am very satisfied with the courses I followed and have already started to see the effect of them on the quality on my PhD work.
Ruben Heine – JUAS 2022
MASTER STUDENT, TU BERLIN
(GERMANY)
With experts and professors from CERN and universities all over Europe presenting their fields, densely but passionately, there is no better way of starting a career in particle accelerators in my opinion.
Abhishek Panchal – JUAS 2022
MASTER, INSTITUT POLYTECHNIQUE DE PARIS (FRANCE)
It was a one-of-a-kind experience, even though online. The people at ESI made us feel very welcome and went above and beyond to make it an exciting 5 weeks. A wide range of topics were covered and I was able to decide what field I wanted to pursue in future.
Angelica De Gregorio – JUAS 2022
PHD, UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA LA SAPIENZA (ITALY)
My experience at JUAS course 1 was really positive. I had the chance to learn from really well-prepared professors who were always available for insights/extra explanations. Despite the remote format, the school gave me the possibility to know other realities in the accelerator world and to meet many interesting people with similar aspirations.
Adnan Kurtulus – JUAS 2022
PHD, ETHZ (SWITZERLAND)
As a student with a background in electronic engineering, it was a great experience to learn all about accelerator physics. The course covers all the fundamentals as well as real-life applications in the field. The highlight for me was the accelerator design workshop.
Enrico Manosperti – JUAS 2022
PHD, UNIVERSITAT POLITÈCNICA
DE CATALUNYA (SPAIN)
JUAS allowed me to enter my PhD without any gaps and with a high level of preparation. The lectures, although online, were carried out in an excellent way with teachers who were able to make us passionate about the subjects.
Cristóbal Miguel GARCIA JAIMES – JUAS 2022
PHD, EPFL (SWITZERLAND)
JUAS enabled me to have contact with many accelerator specialists, which gave me a great overview of these machines at a general level. This is so important for someone like me who intends to make my career in particle accelerators.
Grazia D’AGOSTINO – JUAS 2021
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow At IBA
The school allowed to me to deepen my knowledge in technologies and applications of particle accelerators, to acquire cutting-edge information from the lectures and seminars and to expand my working network. Considering the logistical difficulties, the organization of the school in the on-line format was excellent.
Leandro INTELISANO – JUAS 2021
PhD Candidate University Of Rome La Sapienza / CERN
Despite the limitations due to the pandemic, it was a fascinating journey into accelerator technologies and their applications guided by exceptional experts.
Watanyu FOOSANG – JUAS 2021
PhD Candidate, Université Paris-Saclay
By providing a comprehensive and coherent course programme, JUAS really fulfilled my expectation of building a strong foundation in the field. I have gained so much more understanding in accelerator physics.
Victor DU BUAT – JUAS 2021
MSc Nuclear Engineering, Grenoble INP-UGA
It was great to have the accelerator design course and workshop as it was an occasion to put all we saw together and to have an overview on what designing a particle accelerator may be.
Akomoneh RAYMOND – JUAS 2021
MSc Computational Science & Engineering, Universität Rostock
I cannot imagine the time it would have taken and the volumes of books and magazines I would have had to read to get this level of experience. The content of the lectures has been rich and, in some cases, challenging to understand. The fact that after just five weeks at JUAS I am already…
Damien GILMANT – JUAS 2021
System Owner Rhodotron TT300HE, Ion Beam Applications - IBA
The lecturers are all experts passionate about sharing their knowledge. This is really the key asset of JUAS.
Career opportunities
With the support of
