Can you introduce yourself, your role in the university and tell us a bit about your background?
I am Monica D’Onofrio, and I am a professor in experimental particle physics. I am also the Head of Research at the Department of Physics at the University of Liverpool and the Deputy Head of the Department. I also lecture so I have been teaching quantum mechanics for second year students for a decade now, next year I will change to teach dark matter and neutrino physics to fourth years. I am also a member of Senate and outside the University I have several coordinating and leading roles with ATLAS and FASER which are two experiments at CERN. So, I do many different things within research, teaching and administration. I did my undergraduate studies at the University of Pisa in Italy and then I moved to the US for a year during my masters in Chicago. And then I started my PhD at the university of Geneva where I worked for the ATLAS experiment at CERN which was still in construction at the time, and for the CDF experiment at Fermilab. I got my position here at Liverpool at the beginning of 2010 after a 4-year postdoc with IFAE Barcelona (still working on the CDF and ATLAS experiments), when I got a fellowship through the Science and technology Funding Agency (STFC) for five years. Then I became a lecturer and then reader before the end of my fellowship and then I became chair in 2017, and I ended up being in Liverpool since then. So, my background is in experimental particle physics and in particular on collider physics experiments, including exploitation of the collected data and construction of new experiments at hadron colliders.
Why did you choose to work in the University of Liverpool?
It was a little bit by chance in the sense that I knew a few people that I had collaborated with at the University throughout my career. Liverpool was both very strong in the construction of the tracking detector for the ATLAS experiment in which I was working during my PhD, and in data analysis at the CDF experiment in the US. While chatting with one of the academics he told me that there was an opportunity for applying for this advanced fellowship and I said, ‘OK why not!’. I got it and then I found the work in the department suited me quite a lot, I mean the first few years I was basically doing only research, so I was based at CERN, and I was spending the majority of my time there. Then I moved back to Liverpool, and I found myself well suited so that's where I stayed.
What does a typical workday involve for you?
I do many things as I mentioned before, given that I have several different roles, so the typical days involves a lot of diverse activities. Things I do are obviously different depending also on the immediate needs so usually I spend a lot of the time during the working day in meetings. I start very early so usually around six already at work, so I have my two hours to set up the rest of the day. I try to make sure that at least once a week I have one hour face to face with each of my students, so I really try to make sure that I set aside the time with them, and I follow their progress on data analysis as closely as possible with daily communications through skype and TEAMs. I have six PhD students and two master’s students working on different topics in two experiments, but I am hands on as much as possible. During the week I attend and organise meetings which are very important because I think that is very crucial to make sure that there are communications in our field. For example, in my role as the head of research I really tried to spend the time to discuss with people about progression, new initiatives and collaborative projects. Working days can vary quite a lot depending also on the period I also try to do a lot of peer reviewing candidates that do want to apply for fellowships and mentoring. That depends on the moment so there is quite a lot of diversity on what I do, and the working day is quite long I have to say but that's because I'm passionate about what I do. I think I'm privileged in doing what I do so I try to transmit the enthusiasm that I have to all the people that work with me, so I devote as much time as possible for that.
What research are you currently undertaking?
My main research has been focused on searches for new physics. In simple terms, in particle physics everything is described by the so-called Standard Model. However, we know that the standard model has a lot of open questions and one of them is ‘what is dark matter?’. We know from cosmological measurements that it is there, but we have not understood what it is. So, searching for dark matter as predicted by diverse new physics model is the main theme of my research since almost a decade. I do that using the data from the ATLAS and FASER experiments at CERN so most of the work that I do is really data analysis. In recent years I have tried to use machine learning and AI methodology as much as possible and so that's what drove a lot of my research activities even beyond particle physics. Now I have established collaborations with computer scientists from Italy and medical physicists to apply the same machine learning procedures and pipelines that I use for particle physics in other disciplines. If I have to define my research in a nutshell, it is fundamental research to find new physics through the usage of AI based techniques.
What is your favourite part of this research?
My favourite part of the research is really that I truly believe that dark matter is somewhere out there, and we just need to find it. We just need to be creative enough and not be stuck on one approach. What I like the most is the fact that I can really push my curiosity to the edges and say maybe I can use this experimental apparatus to do this and to explore that kind of models and I can also do these other experiments to explore these other parts of space that has not been explored by anyone. I can collaborate with a lot of the excellent people both in the department and elsewhere to pursue that, so I think that is the best part and the fact that we have an open ground in front of us. We are also privileged to be filling the position of being able to explore these open grounds. I enjoy that a discovery can be around the corner even if we haven't discovered what I’m looking for yet.
Why did you choose to pursue a career in the Department of Physics?
I wanted to be a physicist since I was 6, well a scientist really! I didn't know what a physicist is at that time. I actually wanted to be an astronomer for a long time with some parentheses as a journalist so that's quite different! I wanted to be a particle physicist before going to the university from high school. To a certain extent physics was a no brainer because I mean I've always wanted to do that. I also early on understood that I wanted to pursue an academic career, although it had taken me one year to decide to take a PhD after the end of my studies so it's not that I took an immediate decision. I decided to do that because I was really fascinated by the world of the fundamental research in particle physics. For a long time, Liverpool has been and still is at the forefront of this research. This is a great place to be, so I think that is what justifies my presence! I still consider the University of Liverpool to be a very good place to work.
How have your past experiences shaped your approach to teaching and research?
I mean there are many things that have shaped my way of teaching and doing research. In terms of research, I think that working in an international environment means I had the opportunity to learn about different cultures and different ways to approach problems. This made me realise how different approaches are equivalently effective and it's important to respect them. So, my research has grown into being more collaborative and more open. Even beyond particle physics so the diversity is what perhaps has increased quite a lot in the last few years. This has had an impact also in teaching: my initial concept of teaching was quite procedural, you go there you give a lecture and that's it. The more you teach the more you get in touch with the students the more you follow them in their full career path and the more you realise how much you can do. It is important to find new ways to engage with them and learn how to transfer your knowledge to others. The experience is very important for example right now I can see the difficulties of students or the people that I work with or that I supervised much more easily. So, I am more ready to react to that and to understand how supporting plans can be put in place. I think what I do like about this field is that you never finish learning. In fact, this is perhaps the main driving force of fundamental research and it's also learning about the people you work with.
Did you face any challenges along the way and how did you overcome them?
Many, every day is a challenge! I mean you have basically a screenshot of what is now but behind every success there are tonnes of failures. So, in several occasions, such as the recent WONDRS conference organised by and for STEM PhD students, I've tried to highlight things that didn't go in the way that I had initially foreseen, positions that I didn't get or projects that I couldn't push forward. In terms of challenges there are many because the truth is that you can only try, and you must try many times before having success. Sometimes even if you don't succeed on that aspect there is something else that is waiting for you. An example of when I was aiming to be nominated to take over a very high responsibility role at CERN in one of the major experiments there: actually this was disappointing at that time but then it turned out to be a positive thing because it allowed me to concentrate more on the research in the department and this is how I became the Head of Research. So, what I initially thought was negative turned out to be quite nice. Challenges are always there professionally speaking and in life to overcome. One thing that that I certainly learnt is that this is also the fun and interesting part – as said before, you never stop learning so there is always something more that you can try to push yourself to do.
How would you describe the environment at the University of Liverpool?
I think that the environment, especially of the department, is very positive. I mean maybe it's that I'm a very optimistic and positive-leaning person, so I usually see only the good things. But the department certainly has, in my view, a very collegial atmosphere, people are very collaborative and very understanding. Members of staff are incredibly helpful when it comes to problems that needs to be overcome. I think that this is really a nice place where for me is a pleasure to work. I think the department and the institution as well are very supportive and there is a very good and positive environment overall. I've also seen an evolution in past years and people wanting to do more and better. I'm not saying that everything is perfect but what I appreciate is the willingness to improve. In the department there has been concrete engagement and attempt to improve and to change. I hope also others see this: as part of the management of the department, something I have tried to pursue very actively is trying to provide support as much as possible. I hope that people feel comfortable in approaching us to get the right advice and the right support for them. If that is not the case, I’m the first one who is wanting to receive criticism to help us change.
What advice would you give someone considering a career in physics?
I think that the passion that you have for physics has to be there because it's not something that is a regular job. there are many aspects that can be considered, and it might take a while to find your path. It might be challenging for example if I think about my environment, I collaborate with people in the US with people in Japan so the working hours can vary quite a lot. So there needs to be flexibility and at the end of the day what drives you is the passion and the willingness to explore the unexplored. Then the next challenge would be feeling insecure, feeling like it is a world populated by geniuses and you might not be at the level of others. But the reality is that everyone has to learn, so there is a lot of training involved, it is an evolution: my advice is always don't be scared to ask questions. Don't be scared to challenge yourself but also don't be scared to be yourself. So, I think that my advice would be to try because once that the passion and the love of physics is there, I think everything is possible.
What are you hoping to achieve in the future?
Discover dark matter for sure! The field of high energy physics can open really new uncharted territories and that is something that I am convinced that is there. I'm convinced that we are at the edge of a new era! We have quantum technologies emerging and with AI who knows maybe in three years from now what will be possible. That is certainly something that I hope to achieve in the future not just for myself but for the field in general. I hope to continue to improve and to continue to have the privilege to collaborate with my colleagues and to pass on the passion that I have for physics. I want to teach and train next generation and then the next generations in the best possible way in my capacity. I hope to progress in a positive way and that the environment in which we work will become more and more welcoming and inclusive. So, I don't think there's a single achievement is what I'm really aiming at it's more of a growth than an achievement so that I look forward to our continuous growth.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
The question that was asked to me at the Wonders conference was ‘what would you say to your younger self if you could?’ and I think it is a question that I'm still not sure about. I certainly know that there are many things that I have learned, in my family there are no academics, and I didn't know anything about the university. I feel that there might be many students approaching their undergraduate studies without having a clue on what a university is or how it works. I think that it can be very difficult sometimes so the advice that I would give to my younger self would be really to come forward and do not be scared to ask questions. There isn't a silly question, there are only questions that can bring you to the next level. If I knew certain things before and not been so afraid, I would have not been so insecure and thought that I would never be able to do any of those things successfully. I mean it's normal to feel that and I think that what is happening nowadays is that we can talk about this which is extremely important. So really to continue on this route and that's what I wanted to add.
Back to: Department of Physics