As construction advances on one of the world’s most ambitious neutrino experiments, attention is increasingly turning toward another essential challenge, preparing the researchers who will interpret the unprecedented data expected to emerge from it. To support that goal, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory recently hosted the first DUNE Data Analysis School under the leadership of its Neutrino Physics Center, creating a new training program designed specifically for scientists entering the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collaboration.
The inaugural school welcomed roughly fifty graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, instructors, and facilitators for an intensive week devoted to the software, computing infrastructure, and analytical techniques that will underpin future DUNE research. Rather than focusing on theoretical concepts alone, the program emphasized practical experience with the computational tools participants will use once the experiment begins producing scientific data.
According to DUNE co-spokesperson Sowjanya Gollapinni, the initiative arrives at a pivotal moment for the collaboration.
“With installation now underway at the underground facility in South Dakota, DUNE has entered a completely new phase,” Gollapinni said. “Preparing for our first physics data has become just as important as building the experiment itself. This first Data Analysis School organized by the Neutrino Physics Center provides early-career researchers with the software knowledge and analysis techniques they will need from day one. An equally valuable outcome is the creation of a formal curriculum that future editions of the school can continue to refine and expand.”
The program follows the successful model established by Fermilab’s CMS Data Analysis School, which has supported researchers working on experiments at the Large Hadron Collider for many years. By adapting that concept to the specific demands of DUNE, organizers have created a dedicated educational pathway for the collaboration’s growing international community.
Throughout the week, participants explored every major stage of the experiment’s analysis workflow. The curriculum combined lectures, interactive tutorials, collaborative exercises, and team projects covering detector simulation, event reconstruction, data selection strategies, modern computing infrastructure, and advanced software environments. Artificial intelligence and machine learning methods also formed an important component of the training, reflecting their expanding role in large-scale particle physics analyses.
To maximize the effectiveness of the program, attendees completed preparatory computing sessions before the school officially began. Once on site, they worked directly with specialists responsible for DUNE’s software, computing systems, and physics analysis framework, allowing newcomers to acquire practical skills while building connections with experienced collaborators across the experiment.
Mike Kirby of Brookhaven National Laboratory, who leads DUNE’s Core Software and Computing Consortium and served as one of the instructors, highlighted the importance of keeping pace with rapidly evolving computational technologies.
“Computing continues to evolve remarkably quickly, making it essential for new collaborators to become familiar with DUNE’s software ecosystem as efficiently as possible,” Kirby said. “The Data Analysis School created by the Neutrino Physics Center brings together experts from across the collaboration to provide early-career researchers with a solid foundation in computing, software development, and data analysis, allowing them to begin contributing to DUNE’s scientific program much sooner.”
Organizers, together with the Neutrino Physics Center and the broader DUNE collaboration, expect the initiative to become a permanent feature of the experiment’s training strategy. By offering structured education on the collaboration’s analysis framework each year, the school is intended to strengthen the scientific workforce that will ultimately interpret the experiment’s discoveries and fully exploit its research capabilities.
Gollapinni also acknowledged the extensive effort required to establish the program from the ground up.
“The success of this first school reflects the extraordinary commitment of the Neutrino Physics Center, the local organizing committee, and the program committee,” she said. “Designing an entirely new curriculum while coordinating every aspect of the event required an exceptional collective effort.”