Eberwein won the ‘A Large Ion Collider Experiment (ALICE) Thesis Award’ for his research into a new sensor for ALICE at the Large Hadron Collider at the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN).

The sensor Eberwein has developed will allow to precisely track particles created during particle collisions at experiments in the world’s largest particle accelerator.

“We have two particle beams circulating in opposite directions and where they cross, collisions occur,” Eberwein explained.

“A lot of collision products emerge, and you want to precisely measure the tracks that these new particles take in the system so that you can reconstruct what happened in the primary interaction.

“Close to from where all the new particles emanate, you put our silicon pixel detectors, because like in your phone camera, which also has a pixel sensor, you can then measure where exactly those particles flew through the detector.

“You can then reconstruct the individual tracks from hit pixels in multiple sensor layers and determine what happened in the primary interaction allowing to do fundamental physics research.”

The Austrian confesses to “always taking everything apart and building new things” when he was a child, fascinated by how things work.

Now living in Geneva and based at CERN while working for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Eberwein is proud to be one of four ALICE award winners in 2026.

“It’s definitely nice to get that recognition, it’s very gratifying,” said the postdoctoral research associate.

“Everyone in the field knows CERN as kind of the Mecca of particle physicists and getting an award from one of the top four experiments is quite important.”

Another alumnus, Professor Phil Burrows, is the Chair of the CERN Scientific Policy Committee and played a role in Eberwein choosing to study at Oriel.

“Before I interviewed officially with Oxford, I talked to Phil about different options.

“When I did research in which college to go into, I initially had no clue so I looked at CVs of different people and I saw Phil was at Oriel.

“I looked at Oriel and it was attractive to me.

“The memories created there will certainly last a lifetime.”

Eberwein’s creation will soon cross the Atlantic, with plans for his sensor to be used in a new collider being built in the United States of America.