ATLAS is a particle physics experiment that explores the fundamental nature of matter and the basic forces that shape our universe. The ATLAS experiment searches for new discoveries in proton collisions of extraordinarily high energy. ATLAS is one of the largest collaborative efforts in the physical sciences. The ATLAS collaboration consists of 3000 physicists and engineers (including 900 students) participating from more than 180 universities and laboratories in 55 countries, from around the world. More detailed information can be found here

Our University of Toronto experimental group plays a leading role in the scientific studies, maintenance, operations and upgrades of the ATLAS experiment. We were involved in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs boson, which gives rise to the mass of all of the fundamental particles in the Standard Model of particle physics. We are now engaged in detailed studies of the Higgs boson and the top quark, as well as in searches for new particles that will lead us to a deeper understanding of how our universe is structured. Beyond that we maintain the liquid Argon forward calorimeter that was partially assembled here in Toronto and are actively involved in assembling almost 1000 precision silicion strip tracker modules for the upgraded ATLAS tracker that will be installed at CERN in the second half of this decade.

Our research group includes seven faculty members, four postdoctoral researchers, almost twenty graduate students and three staff members. We have positions for about half-a-dozen undergraduates each summer. About one third of our group is based in Geneva, at CERN, where they are involved in the day-to-day operations of the experiment, physics analyses and detector maintenance. We have access to computing resources here in Canada and around the world, in order to be able to access the ATLAS dataset and study the physical phenomena that are present in the LHC proton collisions. We maintain a 100m^2 cleanroom in the physics department where we are assembling and testing silicon modules for the tracker upgrade.