Welcome to Oxford

The local organizing committee would like to welcome you to Oxford for the Topical Workshop on Electronics for Particle Physics, TWEPP 2012.

The workshop is organized by CERN and the Particle Physics sub-Department of Oxford University.

Oxford University is one of the oldest institutions of higher education in Europe and as such it is somewhat difficult to unpick its origins. Teaching was certainly taking place in the city by 1096, but this was most likely a somewhat informal arrangement between the students and their tutors within local inns or households. However, in 1167 Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris and this caused the formal university at Oxford to develop rapidly. Public lectures were taking place by 1188 when the historian Gerald of Wales addressed the assembled Oxford dons of the day. By 1214 the title of “Chancellor” was conferred to the head of the University. It was in 1231 that the masters of the various colleges which had already been well established, some for almost 100 years, were formally recognized as a universitas or corporation.

Those with a deeper interest in the history of this dynamic institution can find a brief account here:

(http://www.ox.ac.uk/about_the_university/introducing_oxford/a_brief_history_of_the_university/index.html) where you will learn how this University managed to survive through a series of autocratic monarchs, at least one religious conversion, a civil war, and even a succession of Liberal and Conservative governments. Indeed, if you ask one of the fellows of St. Johns College he will proudly tell you precisely where the bodies were buried (and recently excavated prior to the construction of the new graduate student accommodation building).

Today Oxford University is a federation of 38 individual colleges under the aegis of the University. The operation of this institution is not exceptionally different from the manner in which the government of the United States works. There is a federal entity, The University, to which all the colleges (like the individual states) associate by law. There are powers and rights that the colleges have and they largely govern themselves in areas which are not explicitly the purview of the University. Each college is its own house of higher learning with its own infrastructure for teaching, accommodation, and library provision. Colleges tend to accept students in most subjects taught in the University. The college in which you may be staying, Lady Margaret Hall (LMH), accepts students not only in Physics and Engineering, but also in English, Mathematics, History, Modern Languages, Classics, and nearly the entire range of other degree-granting subjects. There are over 21,000 students at Oxford University. Of these approximately 11,000 of them are undergraduates while 10,000 are engaged in graduate study.

The Physics department of Oxford University is in some ways similar to the federal college system as well. There are six semi-autonomous sub-departments each with their own Chair: Astrophysics, Atomic and Laser Physics, Atmospheric Physics and Space Science, Condensed Matter Physics, Particle Physics, and Theoretical Physics. There are approximately 100 academics in the Physics department making Oxford Physics one of the largest physics departments in the world. Particle Physics alone (which contains only the experimental physicists) has over 20 academics. There are then approximately 10 theorists in the Theoretical Physics department who are working on particle physics topics as well. Within Particle Physics the largest groups are involved in LHC projects at CERN, namely ATLAS and LHCb. However, the sub-Department also has groups involved in several neutrino experiments (T2K and SNO+) and in dark matter searches (CRESST and EUREKA). In addition Particle Physics plays host to the inter-disciplinary John Adams Institute of Accelerator physics which is investigating new accelerator technologies with applications in medical and plasma physics as well as for novel particle physics accelerators.

Welcome once again to Oxford! We hope you enjoy the conference and take the opportunity to explore the rich and sometimes quirky way in which this unique place thrives throughout the centuries!

Local Organization

B. T. Huffman, Lady Margaret Hall, chair
R. Nickerson, The Queen’s College
G. Viehhauser, St. Johns College
A. Weidberg, St. Johns College
A. Carslaw
S. Geddes, secretary

Scientific Organization

P. Farthouat (CERN, chair) J. Christiansen (CERN)
M. French (RAL) G. Hall (Imperial College)
M. Hansen (CERN) B. T. Huffman (Oxford)
L. Mapelli (CERN) A. Marchioro (CERN)
K. Meier (Heidelberg) L. Musa (CERN)
M. Newcomer (U. of Pennsylviana) E. Petrolo (INFN Rome)
J. Serrano (CERN) W. Smith (U. of Wisconsin)
C. de la Taille (IN2P3) F. Vasey (CERN)
K. Wyllie (CERN) E. Dho (CERN, secretary)

Workshop Secretariat and Registration Desk

Sue Geddes
Denys Wilkinson Bldg.
Keble Road
Oxford OX1 3RH
United Kingdom

E-mail: TWEPP2012@physics.ox.ac.uk
Phone: +44 1865 273353
FAX: +44 1865 273418

Web Site: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/twepp12/index.asp

Workshop Venue

The Workshop takes place in the Martin Wood Lecture theatre, which is the only large lecture theatre signposted in the Martin Wood Building and in the Lindemann Lecture Theatre which is next door in the Clarendon Laboratory. The address of both is:

Clarendon Laboratory (Physics)

Parks Road

Oxford OX1 3PU

Other information

Workshop secretariat and registration desk

The registration desk / workshop secretariat opens on Monday at 10:00 and every following day at 8:30.

Computer/Internet access

Wi-Fi will be available to conference participants in the Martin Wood complex. Details of your guest account with your username and password will be provided in your information packs available from the conference secretariat. Wi-Fi will also be available to those who are staying at Lady Margaret Hall. Whether you obtain the connection details at LMH or from the secretariat in the Martin Wood you should be able to connect in either venue.

A couple of computers are available near the conference secretariat and there will be limited printing facilities available in case you need to print reservation information or airline boarding passes.

Uploading

All contributions (talks and posters) should be uploaded to the Indico conference website prior to the start of the session https://indico.cern.ch/event/twepp12

Talks

Speakers should check on a Windows system that their talk displays correctly.

Working Group Meeting Locations

On Wednesday 19 September are the meetings of the four working groups. The locations of those meetings are as follows:

1. WG1 (Micro-electronics) will meet in the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre.

2. WG2 (Optoelectronics) will meet in the Denis Sciama Lecture Theatre which is located on the 5^th floor of the Denys Wilkinson Building on Keble Road.

3. WG3 (Power) will meet in the Fischer Room which is located on the 5^th floor of the Denys Wilkinson Building on Keble Road. (see map below)

4. WG4 (xTCA) will meet in the Lindemann Lecture Theatre.

Posters

Due to limited space in the venue there will be two poster sessions. All posters in both sessions will be displayed inside near the Martin Wood Lecture Theatre.

Poster contributions should be of size A0 and can be either portrait orientation (Width = 841mm, Height = 1189mm) or landscape orientation with some tolerance. Landscape orientation will more completely fill the poster-boards that we use, but portrait orientation can be accommodated as well.

The posters will be on display in two sessions. The first session will be on Tuesday afternoon and the posters can remain up until Wednesday noon (session A). The second poster session will be on Thursday afternoon (session B).

Instructions for preparing your poster for the conference are here: http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/twepp12/poster.asp

The secretariat will supply you with materials needed to mount your poster. Portrait format posters will need to be flat in order to hang properly.

All posters should also be submitted to the indico agenda page.

Posters will be sorted by topic. The poster walls will be labelled such that you will find the proper place for your poster.

Lunch Break

On Tuesday, Wednesday, And Thursday of the conference there will be finger-food Lunch Break available in the conference venue. Additionally the city centre of Oxford is approximately a 150-meter walk along Parks Road where there are a large variety of venues that can serve Lunch Breaks to suit all manner of tastes.

Social events

The local organization committee has planned three social events:

· Monday, September 17 from 19:00 – 21:00: Welcome reception in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Museum is located 50 meters down from the Physics building on the left on Parks Road (head in the opposite direction of the University Park and LMH).
http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/visiting/index.htm

· Tuesday, September 18 starting at 20:00 in the Holywell Music room (http://www.music.ox.ac.uk/facilities/Holywell-music-room.html), a group of world class classical musicians will give us a taste of music featuring at the Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival (http://www.hatfieldhousemusicfestival.org.uk)
The programme will feature:

o Mozart - Violin & piano Sonata - Esther Hoppe (violin) & Alasdair Beaston (piano)

o Mussorgsky - Pictures at an Exhibition - Katya Apekisheva (piano)

o Ravel - Mother Goose Suite - Alasdair Beaston & Katya Apekisheva (4 hands at piano)

o Beethoven - "Archduke" Piano Trio - Alasdair Beaston (piano), Esther Hoppe (violin), Guy Johnston (cello)

· Thursday, September 20 starting with pre-dinner drinks at 19:30 and dinner at 20:00 will be the conference dinner at Lady Margaret Hall. Wands and wizarding robes will not be required on this occasion!

Map of Oxford science area

Oxford city is a short walk away from the conference venue toward the south while the main conference accommodation, at Lady Margaret Hall, is a pleasant walk across the University Park to the northeast.

There is an excellent bus service up and down the Banbury Road for those staying to the North of Oxford. Any bus stopping along this road will take you near to LMH or Keble Road or into Oxford. Within Oxford take the 2, 2A, 2B, or 2C busses marked “Kidlington” to head north. Single journey or day passes can be purchased from the driver. Exact change is appreciated but not required.

A full map is available here:

http://www.ox.ac.uk/visitors_friends/maps_and_directions/science_area.html

A Guide to Tourism In and Around Oxford

As there is simply too much to see and do both within Oxford and in the area, and given that bus links to London are frequent and affordable, there is no planned “outing” associated with the conference. In light of this, one of us has written a guide for the conference outlining a great deal of information on what one can see and do in Oxford and the nearby surroundings.

http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/twepp12/guide.asp

Concluding Remarks

TWEPP 2012 is organized with support from CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research ACEOLE, a Marie Curie Action at CERN, funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme. Marie Curie Actions are aimed principally at training young researchers.

The ACEOLE project covers the fields of data acquisition, electronics, and opto-electronics and will run until 30 September 2012.

ACEOLE funds a limited number of bursaries attending this workshop, supports several invited talks and sponsors the tutorial on "Signal Integrity in High Speed Designs", thus enhancing the training value of the workshop.