Steering ATLAS forward with new management
10 March 2025 | By
The ATLAS Collaboration embarks on a new chapter under the leadership of Spokesperson Stéphane Willocq (University of Massachusetts Amherst).
Taking the helm in March 2025, Stéphane succeeds Andreas Hoecker, under whom he previously served as Deputy Spokesperson. A long-standing ATLAS member since 2004, he brings extensive leadership experience, having also served as ATLAS Physics Coordinator (2020–2021) and Chair of the Publications Committee (2017–2018). Elected for a two-year term, Stéphane will steer ATLAS through the final phase of LHC Run 3 and navigate the transition into the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC) era. Joining him in the new management team are Deputy Spokespersons Anna Sfyrla (University of Geneva) and Guillaume Unal (CERN), alongside returning members Technical Coordinator Martin Aleksa (CERN), Resources Coordinator David Francis (CERN), and Upgrade Coordinator Benedetto Gorini (CERN).
"I want to express my deep gratitude to Andreas for his leadership and dedication to ATLAS," says Stéphane. “During his two terms as Spokesperson and two preceding terms as Deputy Spokesperson, he played a key role in advancing our scientific programme and strengthening our collaboration. We are building on a solid foundation thanks to his efforts. I also want to extend my appreciation to Manuella Vincter for her six years as Deputy Spokesperson. Her commitment to ATLAS and its members has been invaluable.”
Stéphane takes the wheel at a pivotal moment, as ATLAS members wrap up data-taking from LHC Run 3 and prepare for extensive upgrades to the experiment.
Stéphane takes the wheel at a pivotal moment, as ATLAS members wrap up data-taking from LHC Run 3 and prepare for extensive upgrades to the experiment. “The HL-LHC will provide an unprecedented volume of data, offering new opportunities for discovery,” says Benedetto Gorini, ATLAS Upgrade Coordinator. “To harness these data, we are undertaking the most ambitious upgrade in ATLAS history. Every layer of the detector is affected — from intricate new electronics to the complete replacement of the inner tracker. As with ATLAS’ original construction, this colossal effort is distributed across institutes worldwide, and all teams are working tirelessly to ensure these new systems are ready for installation in the coming LHC shutdown.”
With some systems set for installation as early as next year, preparations in the ATLAS cavern and services are already underway. “We have an intense period ahead, ensuring that every part of our infrastructure is shipshape for the coming upgrades.” says Martin Aleksa, ATLAS Technical Coordinator. “We are working out every detail of the installation of new detector components in the cavern during the planned four-year shutdown, as the cavern will be teeming with activity during this period.”
On the physics front, ATLAS is also at a critical period. The LHC continues to operate at record luminosities, delivering high-quality collision data that will shape future analyses. “With just over a year left in Run 3, it is essential that we maximize this final stretch of data-taking to secure the best and largest possible dataset,” says Stéphane. “By the winter of 2027, we aim to have the first results using the full Run 3 dataset — marking the true beginning of ATLAS’ broad Run 3 physics programme and providing an opportunity to explore uncharted waters in fundamental physics.”
With so much on the horizon, it’s all hands on deck! "We have our work cut out for us, but this is a challenge the ATLAS Collaboration is ready to meet," concludes Stéphane. "The strength of ATLAS lies in its people. Our collaboration spans the globe, bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to tackle some of the most profound questions in nature. As we set course for the HL-LHC era, we can do so with confidence, knowing that our collective efforts have consistently driven major scientific advances.”
Meet the new members of the ATLAS Management team
Anna Sfyrla, Deputy Spokesperson
Anna Sfyrla is an Associate Professor at the Nuclear and High Energy Physics Department of the University of Geneva. She studied physics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, specialising in particle physics with a thesis on the CMS experiment. She then moved to the University of Geneva for her PhD, contributing first to the construction and surface commissioning of the ATLAS SCT and later to the Fermilab CDF experiment, where she focused on diboson physics and helped commission a diamond-based beam condition monitoring system. After completing her PhD in 2008, she returned to ATLAS, first as a postdoc at UIUC (USA), then as a CERN research fellow, and later as CERN staff. During this time, her work centred on the ATLAS trigger system, and she became involved in operations. She also conducted searches for new physics in hadronic final states.
She joined the University of Geneva as a faculty member in 2015 and, soon after, became involved in the TDAQ Phase-II upgrade, contributing to the development of the trigger system for the HL-LHC. With her research group at the University of Geneva, they primarily search for new physics in hadronic final states on ATLAS through both data analysis and trigger advancements for Run 3 and the HL-LHC. They are also involved in the FASER experiment and explore the potential of FCC-ee. Beyond research, she is actively engaged in education, outreach, and initiatives promoting equal opportunities in academia.
Guillaume Unal, Deputy Spokesperson
Guillaume Unal received his PhD in 1991 from Orsay, working on the W boson mass measurement with the UA2 experiment. He then spent a year conducting early studies on Higgs boson decays to gamma-gamma at the LHC and on the accordion liquid argon calorimeter test beam. From 1992 to 1996, he was a member of the CDF collaboration in the University of Pennsylvania group, working on the observation of the top quark and its first cross-section measurement. From 1996 to 2002, he was part of the NA48 collaboration at CERN in the Orsay group, working on the experiment’s liquid krypton calorimeter and the precise measurement of direct CP violation in the neutral kaon system. In 2002, he joined the ATLAS Collaboration, initially with the Orsay group and, since 2006, with the CERN team.
Since 2002, he has contributed to the calibration, reconstruction, and simulation software of the ATLAS liquid argon calorimeter, as well as to electron and photon identification and energy measurement performance. He has worked on several physics analyses using photons, including Higgs boson searches in the gamma-gamma channel and Higgs boson mass measurements. He served as Higgs group convener (2004-2006), ATLAS Data Preparation Coordinator (2012-2013), e/gamma group convener (2014-2016), Publication Committee Chair (2019-2020), and Physics Coordinator (2021-2022). On 1 March 2025, he began his new role as ATLAS Deputy Spokesperson.
