The SAINTS@tlabs Physics Summer School (funded through the SA-JINR Programme) is in full swing at iThemba LABS NRF.
SAINTS, the Southern African Institute for Nuclear Technology and Sciences, is headed by a Co-ordinator and operates like a Department reporting to Dr Rudzani Nemutudi (Deputy-Director) at iThemba LABS. The current SAINTS Co-ordinator is Prof. Richard Newman (jointly appointed with Stellenbosch University).
This is the second SAINTS@tlabs Physics Summer School organised by the SAINTS Office at iThemba LABS. This year there were 32 students (from 66 applicants from across the country) that participated in the school. These 32 students represent 13 universities across the country. In 2019, there were 24 students from across the country enrolled for the 2019 School.
Students at the School are exposed to lectures on a variety of topics and to hands-on activities (experiments, data analysis, coding).
The School topics include, amongst others, basic nuclear physics, radiation safety, research skills, radiation interaction with matter, accelerator physics, introduction to materials science, introduction to Python coding, nuclear spectroscopy, big data, introduction to particle physics, introduction to electronics and signal processing, introduction to radiation transport simulations, introduction to Atlas and Alice physics.
The lecturers are leaders in their respective fields and are affiliated with South African universities and the JINR (Dubna, Russia). Eight scientists from JINR made presentations at the School this year.
South African-based students who will participate in the SA-JINR Summer Practice (May – June 2020) in Dubna (Russia) will be selected from School attendees.
