Profile
Marcus Madurai
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About Me:
Hi, I’m Marcus! I’m based at the University of Birmingham but currently live in Geneva. I’m a huge fan of roller coasters and often travel exclusively for theme parks 🎢 !
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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I'm a member of team LHCb
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My Work:
I search for very rare particle decays that if found, would open up new doors for understanding the building blocks of our universe! I also work on new detector technology to track particles created at the Large Hadron Collider.
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Read more
I work on a few projects as part of my PhD, that can be roughly grouped into physics analysis and detector hardware.
For my analysis, I search for particle decays that we don’t think should exist. This might sound like a bad plan but if we do find anything, we know that our understanding of physics isn’t good enough and that we need to have a re-think! To look for this “new physics”, as we like to call it, we have to work hard to remove any mess from other decays so that we can be 100% sure we correctly understand the particles we recorded. To do this, I use data recorded by the Large Hadron Collider beauty (LHCb) detector on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) ring.
For my hardware projects, I focus on research and development for the first stage of the LHCb detector, known as the Vertex Locator (VELO). The detector components are just 5.1mm away from the particle collision point of the LHC. I work on the issue of developing fast enough particle sensors as well as a method of reading the tremendous amount of data they produce.
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My work before CERN:
Before I began my PhD working with CERN through the University of Birmingham, I also did my undergraduate masters degree at the University of Birmingham. Here I specialised in ultra-fast sensors for particle detection for other LHC experiments such as ATLAS and CMS!
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What I would like to do next?:
Not sure yet! But I do love LHCb, so perhaps I’ll continue to research …
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Education:
I went to Arden Academy in Knowle from 2011 to 2018, where I did my GCSEs and A-levels. I was lucky enough to have enthusiastic science teachers to absorb from, as well as the opportunity to visit CERN! Little did I know I would be working and living there in a couple of years… After this I went to the University of Birmingham to study MSci Physics with Particle Physics and Cosmology. This is where my interest in physics really flourished! Notice that somehow I’ve been able to do all this without leaving Birmingham!
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Qualifications:
GCSEs: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science, Maths, Additional Maths, Geography, Italian, Product Design, English Language, English Literature
A-Levels: Physics, Maths, Chemistry
Undergraduate: MSci Physics with Particle Physics & Cosmology
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Work History:
Second year undergraduate lab demonstrator 2022-23 (great fun!)
GCSE & A-level Physics tutor from 2016-22
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Job title:
PhD Student
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Employer:
University of Birmingham/CERN
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Rollercoaster riding physicist!
What did you want to be after you left school?
Teacher
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, not really!
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Rollercoaster designer
Who is your favourite singer or band?
clipping.
What's your favourite food?
Chicken
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I want two cats named Ham and Cheese, a roller coaster trip around the world and a duck sanctuary in my garden!
Tell us a joke.
Why did the scarecrow get an award? Because they were out-standing in their field!
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