Two KU PhD students in Physics, Saif Alshalloudi and Begad Elsaid, received full scholarships from the International School of Cosmic Ray Astrophysics (ISCRA) to attend the 24th Course of the School in Erice, Sicily, Italy, from July 29, 2026, to August 6, 2026. The main topic of the School was ‘Particles and the Cosmos – Bridging the Infinitesimal and the Infinite’. During this School, several renowned scientists gave lectures on astroparticle physics, covering topics ranging from cosmic rays and gamma rays to dark matter, gravitational waves, and neutrino astronomy.
The lectures on neutrino astronomy were given by Prof. Dr. Francis Halzen (standing in the middle of the picture), who has received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2026 for “decisive contributions to the IceCube neutrino observatory and the discovery of high-energy neutrinos of astrophysical origin”. Khalifa University is involved in the KM3NeT experiment, a similar neutrino observatory under construction in the Mediterranean Sea. Attending ISCRA provided Saif and Begad, both in the early stages of their PhDs as part of the KM3NeT experiment, with a truly memorable experience and a solid overview and background in astroparticle physics
