Contact: psi[AT]petnica.rsLocation: Valjevo, Serbia
Petnica Summer Institute (PSI) aims to provide lectures to early graduate students given by senior PhD students, postdocs, and researchers. PSI is organized every summer at Petnica Science Center (Valjevo, Serbia) and covers a wide range of topics in fundamental and applied physics.
This year’s pheno school focuses on dark matter and dark energy, and on how they can be probed through cosmology as well as direct and indirect detection.
See https://psi.petnica.rs/ for schools on Quantum Gravity and Quantum Chaos and Scientific Machine Learning.
Aim: The school aims to provide intensive and thorough courses on a broad range of topics in dark matter, dark energy and the ultra-light frontier. The program is not limited to lectures, but will also include daily discussion sessions, problem-solving, and independent work.
For Whom: The school is intended for early graduate (MSc / junior PhD) students from all around the world. We will also consider motivated applications from senior undergraduates, as well as more senior PhD students. Students from the Balkan region/Southeast Europe are especially encouraged to apply.
Application Procedure: To apply, please fill out the form on the website. One letter of recommendation should be sent directly by a referee to psi (at) petnica.rs.
Application Deadline: May 3rd, 2026 (23:59 CET). Please ensure that the letter of recommendation is sent by the same deadline.
Fees and Support: The full cost for accommodation and meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) is 550 EUR per participant. Depending on the overall budget, the organizers may be able to provide partial financial support for a number of students, with priority given to students from the Balkans region / Southeast Europe.
Topics: Introduction to Dark Matter and Dark Energy; Axions and the Ultra-Light Frontier; Large Scale Structure; Dark Matter Model Building; Direct Detection; Indirect Detection; Gravitational Wave Probes
Lecturers: Mateja Boskovic (DESY, Hamburg); Silvia Gasparotto (TBC) (CERN, Geneva); Matthew Lewandowski (CERN, Geneva); Margherita Putti (University of Groningen); Nikola Savic (IPhT, Saclay); Marko Simonovic (University of Florence); Mauro Valli (INFN, Rome); Francesco Verdiani (SISSA, Trieste); TBA