Inaugural MaThRad ECR Research Retreat
In November, a group of MaThRad post-docs and PhD students from Bath, Cambridge, and Warwick gathered at the National Physical Laboratory for the inaugural MaThRad ECR Research Retreat. This forum was designed not only as an exchange of high-level concepts but, more crucially, as a platform for posing unanswered questions within diverse research domains and as a space for discussion and ideas generation among the mixed audience.
The event proved to be a resounding success. The deliberate focus on unresolved questions surrounding the presented topics, coupled with extended hours of discussion, gave the speakers the invaluable opportunity to receive high-level feedback and innovative ideas. Such interactions would have been challenging to replicate outside this interdisciplinary setting.
In addition to the talks delivered by early career researchers, the event played host to Tony Slaba from the NASA Langley Research Centre, marking the first collaboration between MaThRad and NASA. Tony provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by spacefarers due to continuous exposure to Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs), emphasizing the difficulties in developing effective radiation shielding.
The Retreat has paved the way for new avenues of research, including: Theory and simulation of low-power reactor physics through the lens of the spatial Pal-Bell equation and branching particle system with immigration, Leakeas-Larsen approximation of angular scattering and Mathematics of Combing in the Monte Carlo algorithm.
Overall, the Retreat proved to be a success: The intimate scale and high-level discussions were well-received, offering benefits to both speakers and the audience alike. Beyond the intellectual exchange, the event has strengthened the interdisciplinary research community within MaThRad.
Our special thanks to Ana Lourenco and the National Physical Laboratory team for hosting the Retreat, and MaThRad Post Doctoral Researchers Aaron Pim and Terence Tsui who were the academic organisers for the event.
