c b krauss

former graduate student with the PICASSO experimental set up

Possible Thesis Projects (current as of Aug 27, 2020)

Graduate Student Project with the Dark Matter Search Experiment PICO

PICO is a direct dark matter search experiment operated at SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario. PICO uses the bubble chamber technique with a refrigeration liquid C3F8 as active mass. The PICO-60 experiment took data between 2016 and the summer of 2017 with 41 litres of C3F8. This experiment was able to improve the sensitivity to spin-dependent dark matter interactions by a factor of 17. We are now operating the follow up experiment, PICO 40L, that tests a new technique if suspending the superheated bubble chamber liquid inside the detector. Students from the University of Alberta are playing an important role in the construction and operation of large parts of this detector. Possible MSc and PhD candidates will take on the analysis of the data from PICO-40L and determine background levels and ultimately try to find dark matter in our signal. Other possible projects on PICO will be invovled with the design, construction and operation of the future PICO-500 experiment that the Alberta group will play a major role in. The construction of PICO-500 will start in 2019 and be completed in 2020. Operation of the full detector is scheduled to start in 2021. Projects on this experiment will initially focus on the simulation of neutron and gamma radiation inside the setup and then progress to the operation and analysis of its data. Some aspects of this work can be done at the University of Alberta, for other aspects travel to SNOLAB in Sudbury, Ontario can be arranged. You will also be able to participate in regular operation and maintenance of the experiment. A thesis on PICO will contain analysis of dark matter search data and should directly lead to a publication of new physics results.

Graduate Student Project on the P-ONE Project

P-ONE is a new neutrino experiment that we are developing for deplyment in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of about 2600m. This experiment will build on the experience we gained from the STRAW experiment that was delpoyed in the summer of 2018. This experiment delivers data on the optical properties of the ocean water. We will be using the extracted optical properties to simulate the P-ONE detector to optimize the geometry of the large P-ONE neutrino observatory. Students will have the opportunity to develop calibration and triggering algorithms, propose and simulate alternate geometries and analyse data. Typical projects involve travel to collaboration meetings and sometimes to the Ocean Networks Canada site in Victoria, BC. the group's interest is on the search and reconstruction of tau neutrino events and the study of high energy neutrino events in general. There are also projects involving the development and testing of hardware for P-ONE available.

Graduate Student Project on the SNO+ Project

SNO+ is the successor of the highly successful SNO project which established the oscillation of solar neutrinos and therefore clearly showed that neutrinos have a finite mass. The goal of the SNO+ experiment is to measure the mass of the electron neutrino directly. This is done by the observation of a very rare process called neutrinoless double beta decay. If this process could be observed it would allow to measure the mass of neutrino directly and it would settle one of the most urgent questions of particle physics. The SNO+ detector is currently being filled with liquid scintillator. In the coming year the detector will be loaded with Tellurium isotopes to measure the neutrinoless double beta decay half life of 130Te. The calibration and operation of the experiment will allow you to travel to SNOLAB (Sudbury, Ontario) to participate in the collaboration effort to operate and calibrate this experiment. A thesis on SNO+ will be focusing on refining and performing one of the possible precision measurements with the experiment and the analysis of existing data taken with data from the early phases of the SNO+ experiment.


If you are interested in these topics and would like to enter grad school at the University of Alberta please contact me. Please also have a look at this page to find out about the departmental requirements for graduate school admission.


Please that these projects are only examples of the work that we are doing at the University of Alberta. PhD projects are more invloved than the described Master projects. Normally the student and supervisor define the scope of the thesis work together based on your individual skills and preferences and the projects requirements.

Undergraduate Student Projects

For all of the above projects we also have undergraduate student projects available. We have a particular focus on projects that involve working in our local labs, such as the development of electronic circuits for the calibration of P-ONE, the development of a new cleaning machine for the PICO-500 experiment or the assembly and operation of the new beta cage facility at the University of Alberta. We also offer simulation and analysis based projects on P-ONE, PICO and SNO+ for undergraduate students. We offer both payed, full term research positions in the spring and summer terms and volunteer positions during the whole year. If you are interested in volunteer research positions, please send your UofA transcript and a CV to me by email (link at the bottom of the page). Please contact me for details and to discuss opportunities that best match your interests and talents.
Here are a few examples of recent undergraduate research projects:
  • Simulation of the thermal conditions within the PICO-500 detector using finite element calulcations.
  • Analysis of the SNO+ water phase data for conincident events with the LIGO gravitational wave detector.
  • Development of a new online monitoring system for the PICO-40L detector.
  • Optimization of the camera lighting sceanario in the PICO-40L experiment.
  • Extraction of optical attenuation and scattering parameters in ocean water using the STRAW setup.