CERN@school:Harnessing GridPP for

student-driven researchT. Whyntie*,†

*Langton Star Centre, †PPRC - Queen Mary, University of London

GridPP30, University of GlasgowWednesday 27th March 2013

Twitter: @twhyntie @PhysicsatQM @langtonstar #GridPP30

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Impact

• Crucial to have well-defined impact strategy:– “Pathways to Impact” (RCUK)

• CERN@school is no exception:1. Give students and teachers access to CERN

detector technology (data taking) and GridPP (data analysis/simulation);

2. ???3. IMPACT!!!

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

Aim of this talk: provide you with details of what we’ve done, what we

plan to do, and ask your advice on the way forward.

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

CERN@school and GridPP

• What is CERN@school?• What have we done so far?• What do we plan to do?• How best to use GridPP?

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

WHAT IS CERN@SCHOOL?A brief introduction to the project

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

CERN@school: an introduction

• Brings CERN technology into the classroom:– To aid the teaching of particle physics;– To allow students and teachers to do research;– To inspire the next generation of scientists/engineers.

• Different ways to get involved:– In-school detectors – through SEPnet and IoP;– LUCID: 5 Timepix detectors on TechDemoSat-1;– Data shared by students and teachers.

• Currently supported by an STFC Large Award.

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

CERN@school: who’s involved

• Project Leader: Dr Becky Parker• STFC Research in Residence: TW• GridPP support: Chris Walker, Steve Lloyd– Queen Mary PPRC computing - huge thanks!

• The students:– Mainly A level, some GCSE;– Technical ability varies – but research work

provides incentive to learn more.

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The Timepix hybrid silicon pixel detector

• Developed by the Medipix Collaboration.

• 256x256 hybrid silicon pixel detector:– 55mm pitch;– Timepix: “Time-over-

Threshold” mode.• Capable of x-ray imaging,

particle ID and energy measurement.

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The sensitive element

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Visualising radiation

Colour corresponds to the “Time-over-Threshold”, which corresponds to the energy deposited in the pixel

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Visualising radiation

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Visualising radiation

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The data

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The data

• 256 x 256 frame of pixels:– Output in ASCII or binary, matrix or [X,Y,C];– Meaning of pixel value depends on mode:• Time-over-Threshold – time spent over preset

threshold value (corresponds to energy).

• Associated meta-data:– Detector settings, location, time, etc.

• Various formats exist: Pixelman, NASA’s ROOT-based format, .LSC (based on FITS).

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Radiation Around You (RAY)

LUCID

Bringing it all together

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

WHAT HAVE WE DONE SO FAR?Progress with CERN@school

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

• Establish a student research community;

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

• Establish a student research community;• Overhaul of the CERN@school website;

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

The first six months

http://www.thelangtonstarcentre.org

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

• Establish a student research community;• Overhaul of the CERN@school website;• Detector calibration;

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

• Establish a student research community;• Overhaul of the CERN@school website;• Detector calibration;• Detector simulation in GEANT4;

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

With thanks to J. Idarraga (Medipix/CERN)

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

• Establish a student research community;• Overhaul of the CERN@school website;• Detector calibration;• Detector simulation in GEANT4;• The Langton Star Server DAQMAP.

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The first six months

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

GridPP activities

• The CERN@school VO: cernatschool.org• Running CERN@school jobs:– “Hello World!” (obviously);– Custom software via InputSandbox:• CERNatschool-frame-reader (on github);• Sample frame data on figshare - http://dx.doi.org

/10.6084/m9.figshare.644460

– All documented on the GridPP wiki.• Huge thanks to the QMUL GridPP team!

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

WHAT DO WE PLAN TO DO?CERN@school – future plans

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T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The original plan

• Data storage and retrieval:– Timepix data collected by schools uploaded via an

online portal, LUCID data from SSTL managed and uploaded by CERN@school team;

– Data processed (cluster analysis etc.) on GridPP;– Results available via same online portal.

• Storage/processing needs mat by DAQMAP:– Not (yet) enough demand to justify x certificates.

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The revised plan

• Simulations with GEANT4:– Timepix detector and (shielded) sources;– LUCID in the space radiation environment.

• Example use case:– End user (student) requests events for given source

type, energy range, flux, etc.;– GEANT4 run on GridPP, managed by CERN@school;– Simulated data retrieved for analysis.

• Compare with National Schools Observatory.#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The revised plan

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The revised plan

• Simulations with GEANT4:– Timepix detector and (shielded) sources;– LUCID in the space radiation environment.

• Example use case:– End user (student) requests events for given source

type, energy range, flux, etc.;– GEANT4 run on GridPP, managed by CERN@school;– Simulated data retrieved for analysis.

• Compare with National Schools Observatory.#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

National Schools Observatory

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

The revised plan

• Simulations with GEANT4:– Timepix detector and (shielded) sources;– LUCID in the space radiation environment.

• Example use case:– End user (student) requests events for given source

type, energy range, flux, etc.;– GEANT4 run on GridPP, managed by CERN@school;– Simulated data retrieved for analysis.

• Compare with National Schools Observatory.#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

HOW BEST TO USE GRIDPP?Thoughts on data analysis/simulation for student-driven research.

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Lessons from CERN@school

• Choosing appropriate research tasks:– Where can GCSE/A level students contribute?– Task complexity and “gateway activities”;– Chris Lintott (Oxford, Zooniverse) – blog post:• “transformational nature of [doing] something real”.

• Getting students to code:– Scientific research provides huge motivation;– Challenge - school IT infrastructures vary…

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

Questions for the GridPP community

• What else could we use GridPP for?– With the right research task, plenty of Impact-

worthy and scientifically useful projects out there.• What could we use the Cloud for?– Our experience: give the students the tools and

they will do amazing things.• Can we integrate impact from the outset?– #OpenAccess, #OpenData - reproducability?

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

We are indebted to the companies and organisations listed below, as well as Actel, ARM, REM Oxford, Graphic PLC, NPL, API Technologies (formerly C-MAC),

the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics at the Czech Technical University in Prague and VPT Inc. USA.

Thank you!#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie, Queen Mary, Uni. of London

CERN@school and GridPP

• Bringing technology from CERN into the classroom – and doing the same for GridPP;

• Much progress made over the last 6 months:– Plenty still to do – your input very welcome!

• Huge opportunities for research + impact:– Much learned so far – please ask us!

#GridPP30, Uni. of Glasgow 27th March 2013

T. Whyntie*,†*Langton Star Centre, †PPRC - Queen Mary, University of London

t.whyntie@qmul.ac.uk

Twitter: @twhyntie @PhysicsatQM @langtonstar #GridPP30