Seminar in Particle Physics and Astrophysical Sciences

5 ECTS credit course autumn 2024 - spring 2025 (course code: PAP301)

General information

Wednesday 14 - 16 in Chemicum A121 (autumn) and Physicum E205 (spring)
Seminar responsible: Prof. Kenneth Österberg
Physicum, third floor, room C327 (present usually at least Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays
Email: kenneth.osterberg (at) helsinki.fi

Autumn 2024 - spring 2025 course page updated 22.4.2025

• PARAS-programme: form for MSc thesis supervision agreement (Word file)
• TCM-programme: form for MSc thesis supervision agreement (Word file)

• Write your research question and open it up in detail (Toulmin’s model): answer the 6 basic questions (see page 19 in Wed 9.10.2024 presentation slides or Moodle course area)
• Make outline and/or chapter composition of your MSc thesis
• Write short description of the content of each chapter (as well as possible according to your current knowledge)

• Make a CV for yourself (according to the instructions of the University of Helsinki career service)
• Make a job application, either for a specific job that you would like to apply to or an open application to a company/organization that you would like to work for (according to the guidelines of the University of Helsinki career service).

Course goals:
• Develop your oral and writing skills in scientific contexts of your own specialisation (presentation skills) in English
• Develop your peer-reviewing skills (feedback)
• Develop your ability to promote your expertise and market yourself (career development)
• Help you to find MSc thesis and start planning MSc thesis work (if not already on-going)

Course requirements:
• Make MSc thesis plan (if not yet done, autumn)
• Complete thesis disposition exercise and review others (autumn)
• Make career development related tasks (spring)
• One page abstract of seminar topic (spring)
• Giving of a 25 minute seminar (spring)
• Act as opponent to seminar at least twice (spring)
• Minimum 80 % attendance of seminars & career related lectures (spring)

Course assesment (based on seminar presentation, grading 0-5, same assesment criteria as FYS4006):
• 25 % timing (providing abstract 1 week in advance & slides 4 h before presentation and keeping the 25 min presentation time)
• 25 % abstract (title, clarity & readability, language and correspondence to presentation)
• 25 % presentation material (general impression, amount of slides, text & bullets and figures, formulas & tables)
• 25 % presentation itself (look & talk towards audience, audiable voice, suitable pace and answer to questions)

Program of the course

INTRODUCTORY LECTURES (preliminary dates):


• Wed 11.9. 14.15 in Chemical A121: Introduction and MSc thesis planning
• Wed 9.10. 14.15 in Chemical A121: MSc thesis structure and thesis disposition
• Wed 13.11. 14.15 in Chemical A121: MSc thesis disposition discussion, introduction to seminar presentations and getting your message through
• Wed 4.12. 14.15 in Chemical A121: First seminar presentations
• Wed 11.12. 14.15 in Chemical A121: Seminar planning (for spring)


SEMINAR SCHEDULE (all in Physicum E205 except the first session):
Seminar attendance and dairy (22.4.2025)


• Wed 4.12. 14.15-15.00: #1 Noora Suomalainen: Miniature auxiliary X-ray diffraction setup for a synchrotron beamline end station abstract slides (opponent #1: Anna Jokiniemi, opponent #2: Noora Eriksson)
• Wed 4.12. 15.15-16.00: #2 Anna Jokiniemi: NIST’s Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism standard abstract slides (opponent #1: Noora Suomalainen, opponent #2: Rilla Laitila)
• Wed 22.1. 14.15-15.00: #3 Elo Tuominen: Asteroid masses with ESA/Gaia abstract slides (opponent #1: Rilla Laitila, opponent #2: Kian Heshmati)
• Wed 22.1. 15.15-16.00: #4 Jarno Vierros: Gluon saturation effects in heavy quark production abstract slides (opponent #1: Kian Heshmati)
• Wed 29.1. 14.15-15.00: #5 Susan Rissanen: Cosmological parameter estimation with weak gravitational lensing abstract slides (opponent #1: Noora Eriksson, opponent #2: Lasse Sihvonen)
• Wed 5.2. 14.15-15.00: #6 Rilla Laitila: Gas flows and starburst in merging dwarf galaxies abstract slides (opponent #1: Mirja Ojuva, opponent #2: Emilia Rintamäki)
• Wed 5.2. 15.15-16.00: #7 Inkeri Syrjärinne: Estimating the stellar masses of NLS1 galaxies using multi-frequency observations abstract slides (opponent #1: Emilia Rintamäki, opponent #2: Mirja Ojuva)
• Wed 26.2. 14.15-15.00: #8 Kian Heshmati: Gravitational waves from the first-order phase transitions abstract slides (opponent #1: Lasse Sihvonen, opponent #2: Elo Tuominen)
• Wed 12.3. 14.15-15.00: #9 Emilia Rintamäki: Connection between stellar flares and starspots abstract slides (opponent #1: Roosa Heiskanen, opponent #2: Meri Kolehmainen)
• Wed 12.3. 15.15-16.00: #10 Mirja Ojuva: MLT-dependent wave activity in the Earth’s magnetosphere abstract slides (opponent #1: Meri Kolehmainen, opponent #2: Roosa Heiskanen)
• Wed 19.3. 14.15-15.00: #11 Roosa Heiskanen: Stellar feedback and mergers of supermassive black holes abstract slides (opponent #1: Selda Kizilgedik, opponent #2: Aava Kuparinen)
• Wed 26.3. 14.15-16.00: CV and cover letter workshop
• Wed 2.4. 14.15-15.00: #12 Meri Kolehmainen: Comet coma brightness simulations in ESA Comet Interceptor abstract slides (opponent #1: Niko Annala, opponent #2: Jouni Rissanen)
• Wed 2.4. 15.15-16.00: #13 Lasse Sihvonen: Percolation of bubbles in cosmological phase transitions abstract slides (opponent #1: Jouni Rissanen, opponent #2: Niko Annala)
• Wed 9.4. 14.15-15.00: #14 Jouni Rissanen: Effect of medium inhomogeneities on infrared observations of photon dominated regions abstract slides (opponent #1: Jarno Vierros, opponent #2: Noora Suomalainen)
• Wed 9.4. 15.15-16.00: #15 Niko Annala: Use of commercial CMOS-sensors in radiation detection and measurement abstract slides (opponent #1: Elo Tuominen, opponent #2: Jarno Vierros)
• Wed 16.4. 14.15-15.00: #16 Aava Kuparinen: Magnetic reconnection in the bow shock abstract slides (opponent #1: Susan Rissanen, opponent #2: Inkeri Syrjärinne)
• Wed 16.4. 15.15-16.00: #17 Selda Kizilgedik: Stability of expanding bubbles in the Sound Shell Model abstract slides (opponent #1: Inkeri Syrjärinne, opponent #2: Susan Rissanen)
• Wed 16.4. 16.15-17.00: #18 Noora Eriksson: Water in asteroids abstract slides (opponent #1: Aava Kuparinen, opponent #2: Selda Kizilgedik)