Newest edition Nikhef magazine DIMENSIES is all about pushing boundaries

12 May 2023

The cover of DIMENSIES provides insight into one of the themes of the 9th edition of Nikhef magazine, namely the Nikhef group in Nijmegen. The Nijmegen high-energy physicists once stood at the cradle of the institute we now call Nikhef. Today, the group works on a wide variety of scientific issues, from the smallest particles to deep inside the cosmos.

DIMENSIES comes out twice a year and is distributed free of charge to relations of Nikhef and its six university partners around the country.

Nikhef-DIMENSIES is also available online as a browsable pdf (see below).

Again, the focus in this spring issue is also on people. Astroparticle physicist Dorothea Samtleben provides insight into what it is like to be the first female programme leader at Nikhef and to naturally also be a role model.

Eight PhD students, the ‘unsung heroes of science’ take the floor. What is it like to do your PhD at Nikhef? One of the topics in the interviews with the students is freedom. Carolina Bolognani, for example, finds the freedom to find her own way a privilege and Bas Hofman appreciates the fact that he has the freedom to come up with his own solutions. Eight very different personalities who have all found their way to Nikhef.

Further on, Ernst-Jan Buis talks about listening for ghost particles (and whales) in a project in which Nikhef is working closely with TNO, NIOZ and the World Wildlife Fund. Marieke Postma finds herself between particles and an entire universe since she has been travelling to Nijmegen once a week, where she has been appointed professor of Theoretical Cosmology. And for the ATLAS detector, Erno Roeland is helping to build the support structure of the Inner Tracker, an important new component of the 25m high detector at CERN.

On the engineering front, there is an update to see and read about the ETpathfinder, which is now starting to take shape. In addition, Nikhef and neighbor SURF have welcomed a newcomer, namely an 800GB server that can chase data through fiber optic connections thousands of times faster than a regular home internet connection. Finally, an article on probably one of the most far-reaching projects Nikhef is working on: a three-part space telescope for gravitational waves called LISA. Nikhef, together with SRON, is building the eyes of the machine.

DIMENSIES is a Dutch language magazine.

Previous editions of DIMENSIES can be found online. Back issues can be ordered by emailing communications@nikhef.nl.