Q:
Why do we need the LHC Theory Initiative (LHC-TI) and the LHC Fellowships?
Q:
Where can I find details about the proposed fellowships?
Q:
Why do you propose new support only for postdocs and graduate students
and not for junior faculty?
Q:
How will the LHC fellowships help to create more faculty positions
for theorists working on phenomenology?
Q:
Since funding is tight, isn't the LHC Fellowship program going to
hurt the base program?
Q:
You have submitted a proposal to NSF. What about DoE?
Q:
Won't these fellowships just go to already well funded
institutions?
A:
The LHC will begin to operate in two years from now. To optimize the
physics return of the LHC, accurate theoretical calculations of
Standard Model processes and new physics signatures are needed.
Currently, the number of theorists in US working on LHC is limited.
Much work remains to be done (see the LHC-TI whitepaper for details).
We believe that 4 postdoc and 6 graduate student positions per year for a
period of 5 years would be a major step towards optimizing the physics return
of the LHC. The LHC-TI was formed as a community effort to help stimulate work on LHC related theory in addition to the fellowships.
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A:
In the LHC-TI whitepaper (available here) and the
NSF proposal of the LHC Theory Initiative (2005 proposal; (revised 2006 version; a
summary of the main changes between the 2006 and 2005 proposals).
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A:
The LHC-TI Steering Committee received substantial community input on this,
and thought long and hard about this question. While most committee
members support the idea that young faculty should be supported in some way,
it was not clear that there is a way to do this that would give demonstrable
bang for the buck, both in making a difference in the field and from the point of budget
constraints.
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A:
By awarding fellowships through a nationwide competition, it will be
possible to support the best qualified individuals working on the
highest priority LHC issues. We therefore expect that the LHC
postdoctoral fellows will become attractive candidates for tenure
track faculty positions.
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A:
Joe Dehmer, the NSF Physics Division Director, has recently said (at
HEPAP and the Fermilab users meeting) that he believes that
theoretical physics has been underfunded and needs enhanced support.
A modest dollar investment in theory can have a significant impact.
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A:
Several members of the LHC-TI Steering Committee had conversations with
P.K. Williams at DOE. P.K. expressed great interest in the whitepaper and
voiced strong support for the LHC Theory Initiative and for increasing
funding for LHC related theory. However, budgetary constraints will
limit what can be done. Formal DoE participation in the Fellowship
program is not foreseen at this time. The LHC-TI Steering Committee plans
to keep in close contact with both DOE and NSF to help foster support for
LHC-related theory.
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A:
The proposed guidelines are constructed so that the number of fellows at a given institution is limited and groups which do not yet have
postdoc positions have realistic chances to nominate and host a
Fellow. In particular, each institution may host only one
postdoctoral and one new graduate student Fellow every other year.
For more details see the LHC-TI whitepaper (available here) and the
NSF proposal of the LHC Theory Initiative (available here).
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Q:
Is there support for the LHC Fellowships and the LHC Theory
Initiative in the community?
A:
The Oct. 2005 NSF proposal is the culmination of a process with community-wide input, including a "town hall" meeting at PHENO 2005, two meetings at the Aspen Center for Physics during the summer of 2005, and several community-wide e-mail solicitations for input. We have received letters of support from more than a dozen institutions (ATLAS, CMS, National Labs as well as universities), which were included with the proposal.
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Q:
How can I become involved?
A:
The LHC-TI Steering Committee welcomes further input, either on the LHC Fellowship
program or on other topics regarding the support of US LHC-related theory.
Send email to the Steering Committee here .
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