How have your studies and activities during your studies influenced your career?
Studying at Lodz University of Technology allowed me to gain theoretical and practical knowledge in fields used in modern industry and cutting-edge science. The university also gave me an early start in my research career. During my second year of studies at the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering, I learned from the supervisor of one of the laboratories about an ongoing recruitment for a summer internship at the LAAS centre (Laboratoire d'Automatique et d'Analyse des Systèmes du C.N.R.S.) in Toulouse. I have always been interested in working in an international environment so I applied and was given the opportunity to go for 8 weeks. In hindsight, I can say that it was a great opportunity for me and I am very happy that TUL allowed me to take advantage of it.
How did you end up working with CERN?
During my internship in Toulouse, I met many students from other European countries and together we had many discussions about further career and research opportunities. I learned then that CERN regularly recruits students for internship projects lasting about 6-12 months. Although CERN is mainly known for its particle physics research, the vast majority of internships are aimed at students in technical fields such as mechanics, electronics, computer science or automation.
After returning from Toulouse to Lodz University of Technology, I collected the required letters of recommendation from lecturers and applied for the Technical Student programme at CERN. In my application I described my interest in analogue electronics, which attracted the attention of my future supervisor. Since then, i.e. for the last 12 years, I have worked on various projects, some of which were done as part of the CERN-TUL collaboration. These included my engineering thesis, master's thesis and doctoral thesis.
What can you advise young colleagues who would like to follow the same path and go to CERN?
By far the most important thing is to apply to a programme that interests you! Students from Polish technical universities are known for their very good preparation for their work. In the application form, it is a good idea to emphasise your specific area of interest and support your experience in the field with projects carried out as part of your studies or outside the university.
Working in an international environment also requires the use of a foreign language, usually English, but in the case of CERN, French is also used. It is therefore very important to improve your language skills not only by contact with the 'everyday' language, e.g. during a holiday abroad, but also by acquiring vocabulary from your field, e.g. by reading scientific articles, specialised books or specialist press.
What do you do at this large research centre?
I work in a group that specialises in a field called particle beam instrumentation and diagnostics. Together with my colleagues, we design measurement systems to observe a wide range of particle beam parameters, i.e. the number of particles, their motion trajectory or their distribution inside the accelerator. For this reason, we are sometimes called 'beam doctors' because the systems we design allow us to detect signs of anomalies and problems, which are then analysed by a number of experts. Our instruments are also a kind of 'eyes and ears' for accelerator operators, who need to be able to observe beam parameters at all times to guarantee safe and efficient accelerator operation.
What was your doctorate devoted to and who was its supervisor? How does it relate to your current work?
The aim of my PhD was to design a new measurement system for monitoring the number of particles in the beams at the Large Hadron Collider. This project required knowledge of electronics, electromagnetism theory, accelerator physics as well as magnetic materials science. Thanks to the education I gained during the earlier stages of my studies at TUL, I was able to completely prove the hypothesis posed in my thesis, which led to the implementation of the system I designed into the Large Hadron Collider, where it is continuously used to control the operation of the accelerator.
Originally, the supervisor of my doctoral thesis was Prof. Andrzej Napieralski, who had already been my scientific supervisor during the engineering and master's thesis stages. However, after Prof Napieralski retired, Dr Marek Gąsior from CERN took over as supervisor, while Dr Wojciech Cichalewski from TUL became the associate supervisor. The project I described in my dissertation is now fully implemented and I am currently devoting myself to designing other new beam diagnostic systems to measure its transverse position.
How is it working in a multicultural environment and how many Poles are there. Are there any other graduates from TUL?
Currently, there are about 600 Poles working with CERN, of which about 80 are employed directly by CERN. The rest, on the other hand, are employed by external institutes and do their work under framework cooperation agreements between CERN and the institute in question. Currently, 25 Polish research centres have such agreements, including, of course, Lodz University of Technology, whose students and graduates can increasingly be found in offices and laboratories at CERN.
Undoubtedly, the most well-known Lodz University of Technology graduate now working at CERN is Dr Sławosz Uznański, who on 23 November was selected by the European Space Agency (ESA) to join the prestigious group of 11 reserve astronauts from among more than 22,500 candidates. Sławosz, who graduated in 2008 with a master's degree from the Faculty of Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Control Engineering, deals with the design of electronic systems controlling the power converters that power the Large Hadron Collider. The specialised knowledge of power electronics that Sławosz acquired during his studies at TUL was certainly one of the driving forces that got him hired by CERN.
How do you find living and working in Switzerland?
Switzerland is a very stable country located in the heart of Europe which has attracted many global companies, technology concerns and international organisations. On the streets of large Swiss cities such as Zurich and Geneva, you can hear conversations in every conceivable language, so you can meet many fascinating people and their cultures here. This also translates into work, especially in international organisations such as CERN. The mix of many cultures and points of view creates an inspiring and motivating working climate.
Switzerland's geographical location and landscape are also great assets. Alpine peaks, mountain trails and spacious lakes are within easy reach here, so many people spend their leisure time in nature for a while away from the hustle and bustle of technology. This makes it much easier to achieve a so-called work-life balance.