Peter Skands - Biography

I am a Professor at the School of Physics and Astronomy at Monash University.

During 2023-2024 I am a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford.

My research in high-energy physics straddles the intersection between theoretical, computational, and experimental physics. Most of my research centres around the PYTHIA project, a widely used simulation of high-energy processes, authored by an international collaboration of about a dozen people for which I held a two-year stint as spokesperson, 2021-2023.

Originally from Denmark, my MSc in physics is from Copenhagen University (2001), as one of two recipients of the Niels Bohr Institute's Lørup Scholarship for that year. My doctoral studies were done at Lund University, under the supervision of Professor T. Sjöstrand at the Department of Theoretical Physics. My doctoral thesis "Phenomenological Studies on Supersymmetry and the Strong Force", was awarded the Science Faculty's King Oscar II prize for 2004.

My first post-doctoral position was at Fermilab (near Chicago), 2004 - 2007. Fermilab was operating the Tevatron, then the world's most powerful particle accelerator - I couldn't imagine a more perfect place to work on the physics of high-energy interactions. It did indeed become some of the happiest and most exciting years of my carreer, working alongside the CDF and D0 experiments to model the processes they studied and help interpret the results, especially on top quarks (which were discovered at the Tevatron) and on the so-called "underlying event" for which I had proposed a new concept called "interleaved evolution" during my PhD research.

In 2007, I was promoted to a tenure-track appointment as Associate Scientist at Fermilab, with a year's leave of absence 2007-2008 as a fellow at the CERN laboratory (near Geneva). With the imminent startup of the Large Hadron Collider, I moved full time to CERN as a junior staff member in 2009. There, I again engaged closely with the experimental community, including the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS, and LHCb experiments. I also got involved in developing the world's first virtualisation-based volunteer computing cloud, Test4Theory / LHC@home 2.0. Launched in 2010, it continues to provide the computing power for the web-based reference site mcplots.cern.ch. Upon completing my contract with CERN, I received an award for Exceptional Services to the Organization.

In 2014, the Australian Research Council (ARC) awarded me a Future Fellowship in conjunction with a tenured position as Associate Professor at Monash University (near Melbourne), where I have since been developing an emerging research strength in phenomenological and computational particle physics.

In 2017, I was awarded an ARC Discovery Project grant to investigate "Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Chromodynamics", focusing on improving the understanding (via computer modeling) of two ubiquitous multi-particle states observed in particle collisions: 1) collimated sprays of nuclear matter, called "jets", produced by violent accelerations of quarks and gluons, and 2) the formation and rupture of ultra-strong string-like force fields that enforce quark and gluon confinement.

That work led to two new (2022 and 2023) Discovery Projects on "Tackling the Computational Bottleneck in Precision Particle Physics" and "Beautiful Strings" respectively, which my group is now pursuing. A new aspect (at least for me) in both of these projects is that we include, as stated aims, to minimise the computational footprint of the calculational techniques we will develop, as part of establishing new "best practices" in computationally intensive disciplines. In 2023, I wrote a Nature "World View" piece on this.

In 2020, I was promoted to full Professor at Monash University (from 2024 on with the additional label of Distinguished Academic). In 2021, the members of the PYTHIA collaboration elected me to succeed Prof Torbjörn Sjöstrand as the leader (spokesperson) for the PYTHIA project, with a two-year term.

In 2023, I received the Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching, from the Science Faculty at Monash, for pedagogical innovation in the unit PHS3302 Relativity and Particle Physics. Also in 2023, I was named Australia's Leading Researcher in High Energy & Nuclear Physics, by The Australian newspaper.

During 2023-24, I spent a 12-month sabbatical as a Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellow at the University of Oxford, associated with Merton College. I am now back in Melbourne.

Prizes, Awards, Leadership, and Fellowships

2024: Distinguished Professor, Monash U.

2023 (🇦🇺): Named Australia's Leading Researcher in High Energy & Nuclear Physics by The Australian newspaper.

2023 (🇦🇺): Dean's Award for Excellence in Teaching (individual), Monash U.
For pedagogical innovation in PHS3302 Relativity and Particle Physics.

2023 (🇬🇧): Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship, U of Oxford.

2022: Physics Plot of the Year, in a poll run by Physics Plot of the Week @PlotPhysics.
For my diagram of the structure of a proton-proton collision.

2021: Spokesperson (leader) for the PYTHIA Collaboration.
Elected by the members of the Collaboration.

2014 (🇦🇺): Australian Research Council Future Fellowship, Monash U.

2013: Award for Extraordinary Service to the Organizaton, CERN.

2007 (🇺🇸): Martin and Beate Block Award, Aspen Centre for Physics, CO, USA.
Awarded by the organizers of the Aspen Winter Conferences to a promising young physicist.

2004 (🇸🇪): King Oscar II Prize, Science Faculty, Lund U.
Awarded for best PhD thesis in the Science Faculty, 2004.

2001 (🇩🇰): Frederikke Lørup f. Helms mindelegat, Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen U.
A prestigious scholarship given to one or two promising students at the Niels Bohr Institute each year.

Grants and Research Funding

2023-2024: Royal Society Wolfson Visiting Fellowship
(GBP 65k): "Piercing the precision barrier in high-energy particle physics". Individual fellowship.

2023-2026: Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP23
(AUD 500k): "Beautiful Strings". Lead investigator.

2022-2025: Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP22
(AUD 300k): "Tackling the computational bottleneck in precision particle physics". Lead investigator.

2021-2023: Pawsey Centre for Exascale Readiness (PaCER) grant
(AUD 150k): "Searching for New Particles from the Attoscale to the Exascale". Partner investigator.

2020-2025: Monash-Warwick Alliance in Particle Physics
(AUD 1.8M). Partner investigator.

2017-2021: Australian Research Council Discovery Project DP17
(AUD 300k): "Emergent Phenomena in Quantum Chromodynamics". Lead investigator.

2017-2020: European Union Horizon 2020 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network
(EUR 3.4M): "MCnetITN3". Partner investigator.

2015-2016: Monash-Warwick Alliance Development Fund
(AUD 100k). Lead investigator for the Monash node.

2014-2018: Australian Research Council Future Fellowship FT13
(AUD 700k): "Virtual Colliders: high-accuracy models for high energy physics". Individual fellowship.

2012-2016: European Union FP7 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Initial Training Network
(EUR 3M): "MCnet". Leader of the CERN node 2012 - 2014.

2012-2015: European Union FP7 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Collaborative Project
(EUR 4.5M): "Citizen Cyberlab". Partner investigator.

2006-2010: European Union FP6 Marie Curie Research Training Network
(EUR 2.4M): "MCnet". Network Coordinator (leader) 2009 - 2010.

Summer School Organisation and Lectures

2025: Invited Lecturer at Nordic Conference on Particle Physics. 2 Lectures on "Monte Carlo Event Generators".
2024: Invited Lecturer at University of Oxford, Hilary Term 2024. 2 Lectuers on "Nonperturbative aspects of event simulation".
2021: Invited Lecturer at the Young Experimentalists and Theorists Summer School (YETI), UK. 2 Lectures on "QCD Challenges and Opportunities at Future Lepton Colliders".
2020: Invited Lecturer at CERN-Fermilab Hadron Collider Physics Summer School (HCPSS), Fermilab. 3 Lectures on "QCD and Monte Carlos".
2019: Invited Lecturer at the Sydney Spring School, UNSW, Australia. 2 Lectures on "Particle Physics (Phenomenology)".
2018: Invited Lecturer at "MadGraph Phenomenology School", Hefei, China. 2 Lectures on "Parton Shower Monte Carlos".
2018: Chair Organiser of "12th MCnet Summer School", Italy.
2017: Invited Lecturer at "11th MCnet Summer School", Sweden. 4 Lectures on "Introduction to Event Generators".
2016: Co-chair and Lecturer at pre-SUSY summer school, Australia. 3 Lectures on "Monte Carlos and New Physics".
2015: Invited Lecturer at HCPSS (CERN-Fermilab Hadron Collider Physics Summer School), CERN. 3 Lectures on "QCD and Monte Carlos".
2015: Co-chair of CoEPP Graduate Summer School, Australia.
2014: Invited Lecturer at AEPSHEP (Asia-Europe-Pacific School of High-Energy Physics), India. 4 Lectures on "QCD".
2012-2014: Co-organiser of the CERN Summer Student Lecture Program.
2014: Invited Lecturer at the Terascale Monte Carlo School, Germany. 6 Lectures on "Event Generator Physics".
2013: Co-chair of HCPSS (CERN-Fermilab Hadron Collider Physics Summer School), CERN.
2013: Invited Lecturer at the Ecole Joliot Curie, France. 2 Lectures on "Event Generator Physics".
2013: Invited Lecturer at the LHCPhenoNet Summer School, Poland. 1 Lecture on "Parton Shower Monte Carlos".
2013: Invited Lecturer for the CERN High School Teachers Program. 1 Lecture on "Virtual Atom Smashers".
2012: Co-organiser and Lecturer at the African School on Fundamental Physics and its Applications (ASP), Ghana. 2 Lectures on "Computer Physics in Particle Physics".
2012: Invited Lecturer at TASI (Theoretical Advanced Study Institute), Colorado, USA. 5 lectures on "Introduction to QCD".
2012: Co-organiser of the MCnet-LPCC Summer School, CERN. "Event-Generator Tutorial".
2010: Invited Lecturer at the Cargese Summer School, France. 3 lectures on "Introduction to QCD Phenomenology at Hadron Colliders and Monte Carlo Tools for Collider Physics".
2010: Invited Lecturer at EPSHEP (European School of High Energy Physics), Finland. 6 lectures on "Quantum Chromo-Dynamics".
2010: Co-founder and Lecturer at 1st African School on Fundamental Physics and its Applications (ASP), South Africa. Lectures on "Monte Carlo".

Outreach

Sep 2024: Visualisation of Jets in electron-positron annihilation.
Mar 2023: World View Article for Nature: "Computational scientists should consider climate impacts and grant agencies should reward them".
Sep 28 2018: Radio interview with Open House, Hope 103.2.
Sep 25 2018: The Large Hadron Collider; public lecture, Sydney Ideas.
Jun 26 2018: The Large Hadron Collider; public lecture at Monash U.
Jun 15 2016: Tips for successful publishing; early-carreer workshop at Monash U.
May 03 2017: From Quarks to Haystacks; high school lecture for John Monash Science School.
Dec 03 2015: Introduction and welcome; 2015 International Student Science Fair, John Monash Science School.
Sep 16 2015: The meaning of fundamental; science snippets, Monash U.
Aug 21 2015: Introduction to Particle Fever; Monash Campus Cinema event.
Aug 18 2015: Such Stuff as Beams are Made Of; talk at New Scientist Live, RMIT, Melbourne.
Aug 02 2015: Fundamental Particle Physics; Open Day, Monash U.
Oct 02 2014: TEDxCERN at Monash - Introduction; TEDxCERN Webcast at Monash U.

Committee Work

2024: Main organiser, Tightening the gap between amplitudes and events at the LHC at higher orders, Aspen, CO.
2023: Convenor, QCD@LHC 2023, IPPP, Durham, UK.
2023: Organiser, Lepton Photon 2023, Melbourne, AUS.
2023: Convenor, QCD challenges from pp to AA collisions, Padova, IT.
2022: Convenor, High Precision for Hard Processes (HP2), Newcastle, UK.
2020: International Scientific Committee for TOOLS 2020, IP2I, Lyon, F.
2018: International Program Committee for the 2018 "International Workshop on High Energy Circular Electron Positron Collider", IHEP, Beijing.
2006 - 2018: Co-founder and organiser of "Monte Carlo Tools for Beyond the Standard Model Physics" (MC4BSM) conference series, held at Fermilab, Princeton, CERN, UC Davis, Copenhagen U, Cornell U, DESY, IBS Daejeon, Fermilab, UCAS YuQuan, SLAC, and Durham U.
2016: Chair organiser of "Parton Radiation and Fragmentation from LHC to FCC-ee" conference, CERN.
2014 - 2017: International Organising Committee for "International Workshop on Multiple Partonic Interactions at the LHC" (MPI@LHC) conference series.
2015: Co-chair of "High-Precision Alpha_S Measurements: from LHC to FCC-ee" conference, CERN
2005 - 2011: Convenor for biennial "Physics at TeV Colliders" conference series, Les Houches, France.

Monash "Getting To Know" Interview

How long have you worked at Monash? Since 2014.

Where did you work prior to starting at the University? I was a Staff Scientist in the Theory Division at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, near Geneva, Switzerland.

What do you like best about your role? The combination of research and interacting with bright young people.

Why did you choose your current career path? As a child, I liked looking at the stars and thought I was going to be an astronomer. I now find myself studying the very smallest things there are: fundamental particles. That happened due to a class I took in 2nd year of uni, on Quantum Mechanics, taught by a professor who was so enthusiastic (H. B. Nielsen) that the biology students in the lecture hall next door complained they could hear more of his lectures than they could of their own. I thought quantum mechanics was the weirdest thing I had ever come across, but it also struck me how fundamental it is, underpinning all other physical laws. I was hooked.

First job? In January 2004, I got a phone call from America - the first time I had gotten a call from the other side of the globe. It was the head of the theoretical physics group at Fermilab (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, near Chicago), offering me a post doc. That had been at the top of my list, so I accepted. I was so excited though, that when I hung up, I dropped a pot of boiling water I had been holding (I had been in the middle of cooking dinner when the call came) on my foot. So I limped around with a bandaged foot for a few weeks afterwards.

Worst job? I haven't really had a "worst" job. The aspect of my job I dislike most is undoubtedly the administrative burden, days spent writing and evaluating performance reviews, grant proposals (often with success rates below 20%, meaning with at least 80% certainty you are wasting your time), being a referee for research papers (except when they are interesting!), serving on committees, and the like. Dealing with IT issues comes a close second. But I accept that, having been fortunate enough to pursue a career in research, there are some obligations that come with the job.

What research/projects are you currently working on and what does it involve? I specialise in the physics of the Large Hadron Collider, at CERN. With my students and post docs, and some international collaborators, I develop widely used theory calculations, in the form of detailed computer simulations, which are used as baselines for experimental comparisons. With hundreds of particles being produced in each collision, and millions of collisions happening every second, there is no shortage of challenges, and we often have to go back to fundamentals and revise the models, to improve their detail and accuracy.

What is your favourite place in the world and why? Probably a little summer cottage in the Swedish woods, where nature and peace is in abundance, and there is good food and Scandinavian "hygge".

What is your favourite place to eat and why? My favourite restaurant is a short drive (or train ride) North of Geneva, Switzerland, hidden away at the end of a small street on the very scenic shore of Lac Leman (Lake Geneva). It's called Restaurant du Creux de Genthod and it is an oasis of peace and tranquility, with a lovely view over the lake.

What is the best piece of advice you have received? When I was going through a rough patch as an undergrad, I told a professor at my uni (Andrew Jackson) that I thought physics was hard and I was having doubts about my studies. With characteristic humorous warmth, he told me that, if I was lucky, I would come to realise three things. First, that I am dumb. He thought it was a good sign that I had already got there. Second, that most other people are as dumb. And finally, perhaps as an old professor, that there are many people who are even dumber, including at university. That cured me of the "Einstein complex" that I think quite a few burgeoning physicists suffer from, and allowed me to embrace my stupidity. I really like Monash's motto by the way, ancora imparo, I'm still learning.

Tell us something about yourself that your colleagues wouldn't know? One of the proudest moments in my life was my first solo flight, over the prairies near Chicago. I hold an FAA license as a private pilot, though I've let my training lapse. With a new job, new home, and two small children, constraints haven't allowed me to take this up in Australia yet, but I am positive that some day, I'll be exploring this country from the air. It's a fantastic feeling when the wheels leave the ground.