After completing my MSc in Particle Physics and writing my thesis within the ATLAS collaboration, I decided to pursue a career in software development rather than continuing my academic studies. But let’s take it step by step.

In the first year of my Master’s degree, I had to decide on a topic for my Master’s thesis. The thesis counted for 45 ECTS, so it was a significant undertaking. However, I had no doubt about what to choose, as I had wanted to conduct research at CERN ever since I was at high school. I therefore decided to keep in touch with two professors from the ATLAS collaboration, one of CERN’s main experiments.

The thesis focused on analysing the \( HH \rightarrow bb \tau \tau \) ττ process. In simple terms, it was about developing a multiclass classifier that could simplify the classification process by avoiding the need for a separate classifier for each type of particle and the subsequent overlap removal process. Otherwise, if two models classify the same particle in two different ways, a decision must be made as to which classifier is correct. This procedure may introduce additional classification error.

I conducted this feasibility study for the ATLAS collaboration. Initially, I was very excited about the research topic. I met new people and joined the CERN weekly meetings. I achieved what I had desired since my days as a young high school student.

However, after a couple of months, uncertainty became more prevalent than excitement. This is one of the purest essences of scientific research. When you are trying to achieve something that has never been done before, it is very unlikely that you will find someone who can help you. Fortunately, my research topic was not that abstract, and there were many researchers in both Genoa and Geneva interested in that particular goal, so I was never alone. But I still felt that way.

In addition to this, I enjoyed the technical challenges more than the physical ones. For example, I enjoyed architecting a data analysis pipeline in the CERN cluster more than I enjoyed achieving a good performance in my classification task. Perhaps this was not the right place for me.

I also explored the possibility of conducting a more technical PhD project involving various aspects. This could involve contributing to the ATLAS model and participating in the Google Summer of Code project, which often funds high-energy physics-related projects. This could be a good way to satisfy my emerging technical passion while contributing to the HEP world. I asked about the possibility of carrying out a PhD project like this, but the supervisors did not seem enthusiastic.

So, I took a leap of faith and became a software engineer. I can’t say that I have no regrets about the change, but I think every choice in life has its pros and cons, and in this case, the pros outweighed the cons for me.

Pros:

  • The possibility to work on technical aspects that I could not have done during a PhD.
  • Better salary, which implies greater independence from my parents.

Cons:

  • There are fewer mental challenges compared to the HEP world, and physicists like me always love challenges.
  • Less flexibility