Darren Price
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darrenprice.bsky.social
Darren Price
@darrenprice.bsky.social
340 followers 120 following 710 posts
Particle physicist and Professor at University of Manchester, CERN/ATLAS experiment. Dark matter hunter, LAr TPCs, quantum sensor technology development, AI. Explorer. Go science! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇪🇺🇵🇱
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darrenprice.bsky.social
Pleased to advertise a fully funded 4-year Bicentenary PhD scholarship at Manchester: “Developing tabletop levitating quantum sensors to detect dark matter and other fundamental interactions.”
Fully funded for UK & international students
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
[FSE Bicentenary PhD] Developing tabletop levitating quantum sensors to detect dark matter and other fundamental interactions at The University of Manchester on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - [FSE Bicentenary PhD] Developing tabletop levitating quantum sensors to detect dark matter and other fundamental interactions at The University of Manchester, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Harvey Birch! It was a pleasure to visit the University of Zürich as External Examiner for his PhD viva on liquid-xenon direct dark matter searches, and to tour the Department including the impressive Xenoscope demonstrator for future of liquid-xenon science.
Darren discussing the Xenoscope with Nicolas, postdoc in Zürich Darren, Harvey, and PhD supervisor Björn standing in a line at the celebration for his PhD defence - a blackboard with science(!) is in the background
September 30, 2025 at 9:25 AM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Today we enjoyed presenting our 'Seeing the unseen: a particle physics mystery' stand at the Universally Manchester festival at The University of Manchester reaching hundreds of people! Want to produce your own? @cern.bsky.social has produced some great guidance at scoollab.web.cern.ch/mystery-boxes
Volunteers behind the stand showing the interactive exhibits that rely on our senses and understanding beyond sight to figure out the hidden structures inside the closed boxes Our volunteers demonstrating our interactive exhibits to members of the public and young children Post doctoral researchers in the particle physics group introducing the interactive exhibits to members of the public
June 14, 2025 at 10:57 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
I'll be talking all things #particlephysics and "Discovering the Unknown" at a public talk in Sale, Greater Manchester, on Friday June 27th at 19:30 -- hope to see you there!

Tickets at: watersidearts.org/events/sale-... (proceeds go to charity)
ATLAS control room displays at CERN, showing some status images of the detector in the background, and the "DAQ duck" (a yellow rubber duck!) in the foreground.
June 9, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Darren Price
socialresponuom.bsky.social
We are excited to invite you to our Universally Manchester Festival! 🎉This free family-friendly festival is a great day out with hands-on science experiments, performances, inspiring talks and more!

📅 14 June
📍 @uniofmanchester.bsky.social Oxford Road campus
🔗 universallymanchester.com
May 20, 2025 at 9:09 AM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Registration is open for A-Level #physics school groups / individual students to attend our one-day Particle Physics Masterclass at the University of Manchester on April 4th 2025! We have 300 available slots for students & school groups who wish to attend. Sign up here: indico.global/event/4172/
February 19, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Darren Price
atlasexperiment.bsky.social
3D print your own ATLAS Experiment! 🖨️

This 1:100 scale model, designed by physicist Jan Brajer, showcases the beauty and complexity of particle physics. Perfect for 3D printing enthusiasts and science lovers alike!

Download the files here: atlas.cern/Resources/3d...
January 22, 2025 at 12:03 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Ben Wilson who successfully passed his PhD viva! 🎉
Ben's research focused on searches for heavy neutral lepton production via vector boson fusion @atlasexperiment.bsky.social and tau identification algorithms
Dr. Ben Wilson, standing next to PhD supervisor Darren Price and examiners Carl Gwilliam and Terry Wyatt. Celebrating with a glass of champagne.
December 3, 2024 at 7:44 AM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Last week I spent the day 1.1 km underground at the Boulby Laboratory exploring the future of dark matter and quantum technology in the UK. The lab is situated in an active Salt and Polyhalite mine in North East England which makes for an interesting commute and office wear! 🧑‍🔬⚛️👷‍♂️
The visiting team of scientists, outside the facility, above ground, wearing orange PPE high-vis outfits and hard hats. A light dusting of snow on the ground, and a clear blue sky. In the background are buildings of the mining facilities and the two shafts to the underground area. The visiting team pose for a photo underground in the Boulby Lab tunnels. The team are wearing orange high-vis PPE including helmets and boots. The head torch on their helmets are turned on to help with visibility underground. A sign "Boulby Underground Laboratory" is held in the centre of the group. In the background, mock-up tents for research into medical care on Mars are just visible. The team pose for a photo in the clean environment of the lab, within the cavern underground. The team have changed clothes to wear white clean room boots, Tyvek coveralls and different hardhats to reduce dust and radioactivity in the sensitive lab environment. The lab space is dominated by shiny white walls, ceilings, and floors in a pristine environment. A photo of Darren in the Boulby Lab clean environment, wearing an orange safety helmet, high vis orange PPE clothing, covered with a Tyvek cleanroom coverall. Out of focus in the background is the white-walled lab hall, various pieces of technology and an overhead crane.
November 25, 2024 at 4:28 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
I recently visited Daresbury Laboratory as part of an ongoing project on planning & development of a science lab 1.1 km underground in the North-East of England. 👷‍♂️

More on that soon, but most importantly here is the resident #sciencecat undertaking public engagement activities at Daresbury Lab
A tuxedo cat with white socks, wandering around the foyer of Daresbury Lab like they own the place: because they do...
November 14, 2024 at 8:12 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Oh hey 👋 looks like an uptick in activity here, so a short (re-)introduction!
I'm a #particlephysicist working at the Large Hadron Collider #CERN and new approaches to searching for #darkMatter using quantum sensors/ new materials. Follow for #science life, #physics chat, and occasional cats 🐈
A photo of Darren. In the background is a glacier in Iceland.
November 14, 2024 at 7:37 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Sandford @sandford_ellen on the successful defence of her PhD dissertation on direct dark matter detection with DarkSide and silicon photosensor development! 🥳🎉
November 20, 2024 at 12:17 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
In the ALICE experiment cavern 50m underground at CERN -- one lonely chair contemplates the fundamental nature of existence
#LonelyChairsAtCERN
December 1, 2023 at 2:25 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
In the @ALICEexperiment cavern 50m underground at CERN -- one lonely chair contemplates the fundamental nature of existence #LonelyChairsAtCERN
November 20, 2024 at 12:17 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
The W boson, central to our understanding of the weak nuclear force was discovered 40 years ago @CERN.
A @BBC documentary "The Geneva Event" follows engineers and physicists from the UA1 and UA2 experiments from 1978 to 1983 #fromTheArchives https://videos.cern.ch/record/1004828
Geneva Event (long version)
Presentation of CERN at the time of the PSP. Carlo Rubbia presents his experiment on SPS, called UA1. He also deals with general aspects of the particle physics.The second part of the film deals with the beginnig of the first testing period of UA1, with the successfull result announced in January 1983
videos.cern.ch
November 20, 2024 at 12:17 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
The W boson, central to our understanding of the weak nuclear force was discovered 40 years ago at CERN.
A BBC documentary "The Geneva Event" follows engineers and physicists from the UA1 and UA2 experiments from 1978 to 1983 #fromTheArchives
videos.cern.ch/record/1004828
Geneva Event (long version)
Presentation of CERN at the time of the PSP. Carlo Rubbia presents his experiment on SPS, called UA1. He also deals with general aspects of the particle physics.The second part of the film deals with ...
videos.cern.ch
December 1, 2023 at 11:23 AM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Dr. Kara Lynch (Manchester) discusses her research 'Measuring the shape of proton-emitting nuclei with laser spectroscopy' in today's Bohr Lunch Seminar
November 24, 2023 at 1:10 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Dr. Alice Hamer (Edinburgh) presents a summary of the UK-wide silicon photosensor production effort for the DarkSide-20k dark matter experiment in today's Bohr Lunch Seminar
November 3, 2023 at 1:17 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Many congratulations to Ellen Sandford, who has been awarded the John G Rutherglen Memorial Prize for her PhD research on direct dark matter detection! 🥳🔬🏆
gla.ac.uk/schools/physic…
October 13, 2023 at 3:46 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
FT covers the new #CERN Science Gateway, and the scale of the science and international collaboration: https://www.ft.com/content/1d64aa2a-8b45-471a-b4c8-b6ed138ed449 via @ft
Opening this weekend: the Swiss visitor centre that holds the secrets of the universe
The Cern particle physics laboratory is launching a £90m, Renzo Piano-designed museum and visitor attraction, the Science Gateway
www.ft.com
November 20, 2024 at 12:16 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Proton in a bubble chamber observed at CERN...
Picture of a sign reading "Proton" about to be installed at CERN, wrapped in bubble wrap
September 11, 2023 at 3:29 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
After examining a successful (congratulations Dr. Gary Robertson!) LHCb PhD thesis in Edinburgh last week, this week I've been CERN for meetings, training courses, and a sneak peek at the new Science Gateway open to the public from October -- looks great!
sciencegateway.cern
Looking towards the Science Gateway exhibition tubes from the CERN reception plaza, on a sunny day with member state flags flying in the foreground On site at the science gateway, with other members of CERN personnel, which is currently a construction site so everyone wears high visibility jackets and hard hats A selfie inside the science gateway, in a hard hat and high vis jacket with the CERN globe in the background The main auditorium and events space at science gateway undergoing final touches, showing 900 seats, a stage, and audiovisual equipment
September 8, 2023 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Darren Price
atlasexperiment.bsky.social
The ATLAS Experiment always takes particle physics into uncharted territories — Hi Bluesky! 👋
Photo of the ATLAS inner detector under construction.
August 17, 2023 at 11:41 AM
darrenprice.bsky.social
For my inaugural bsky post, I would like to introduce Emmy, my Research Catssistant, who has been helping me prepare my latest #particlephysics paper draft...
Black cat, looking intently at a screen in a home office, showing a paper draft in progress, some plots of results, and a skype conversation in the background.
August 15, 2023 at 1:15 PM
darrenprice.bsky.social
Today at #LeptonPhoton, @ATLASexperiment released results of a search for new states in X→μ⁺μ⁻+Υ(1S)→4μ decays, with intriguing results! 🧐 An unexpected excess of events is observed near 18 GeV in four-muon mass in 8 TeV data, but later 13 TeV data excludes this excess...
November 20, 2024 at 12:16 PM