Among the more than 5500 members of the ATLAS Collaboration, PhD students play a vital role in advancing the experiment while pursuing their degrees. Every year, the ATLAS Thesis Awards celebrate their outstanding achievements, recognising the significant impact of their research on physics analyses, detector advancements, and software development.

Ana Henriques arrived at CERN in 1988 as a summer student, and never wanted to leave. She assumed the roles of technical coordinator and project leader of the ATLAS Tile Calorimeter, being involved in its design, construction, and installation processes.

For many students, a summer internship is a rite of passage — and a gateway to future jobs. Looking for a valuable glimpse into what a future in physics might hold, dozens of university students from around the world headed to CERN to participate in the Summer Student Programme and engage with cutting-edge scientific research at the ATLAS Experiment. With the support of their supervisors, these students have been deepening their knowledge of particle physics, engineering and computing through challenging projects. These are the stories of 12 of these students.