prof. dr. Juan Rojo

Full Professor, Faculty of Science, Physics and Astronomy

Personal information

I am a Full Professor (UHD1) at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam as well as Staff member at the Theory group of Nikhef. More detailed information about my profile can be found in my personal website.

I did my undergraduate studies at the Universitat de Barcelona, followed by a Ph. D. thesis in 2006.. I was then postdoctoral researcher at LPTHE in Paris VI-VII, the University of Milano and INFN, and at the Theory Department of CERN as a Marie Curie Fellow. In 2014 I joined the University of Oxford faculty as STFC Rutherford Fellow in Rudolf Peierls for Theoretical Physics at the Physics Department and lecturer at Balliol College. Then in autumn 2016 I joined the VU (as member of the APP section) and Nikhef as staff member.

Research

Juan Rojo - (Astro-) Particle Physics - Department of Physics and Astronomy

My research interests cover various aspects of particle, nuclear, and astro-particle physics phenomenology, including

The determination of the quark and gluon substructure of protons using machine learning, crucial to addressing outstanding open questions in the strong nuclear interaction
Model-independent searches for New Physics by means of the Effective Theory framework, where virtual quantum effects provide unparalleled reach to the highest energies
Exploiting the interplay between high-energy collider and astroparticle processes, such as the most accurate calculation of signal and background processes for cosmic neutrino interactions.

I am also developer of several widely used software packages in high-energy physics, and have established fruitful collaboations with my experimental colleagues. I am frequently invited to give talks and colloquia at national and international conferences, and my research results have been highlighted in both Dutch (De Volkskrant, New Scientist) and international (Science News, Quanta, Scientific American) outlets.

Some of the grants and fellowships that have supported my research include:

Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship @ CERN (2010, EUR200k)
ERC Starting Grant @ the University of Oxford (2013, EUR1.5M)
STFC Rutherford Fellowship @ the University of Oxford (2013, EUR1M)
NWO Physics Projectruimte @ VU Amsterdam (2016, EUR460K)
NWO ENW-KLEIN-2 @ VU Amsterdam (2019, EUR730K)
The Netherlands eScience Center Accelerating Scientific Discoveries grant @ VU Amsterdam (2021, EUR490K)

Teaching

I am a passionate teacher and involved in several teaching- and management-releated initiatives including currently

Coordinator and instructor of two courses in the Physics and Astronomy bachelor, "Quantum Mechanics 2" and "Machine Learning"
Coordinator and main instructor of From Quantum tot Molecuul, Medische Natuurwetenschappen bachelor program
Bachelor coordinator and management team member, Medische Natuurwetenschappen (MNW)
Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO/STQ) obtained in 2019
Basic Teaching Qualification (BKO) obtained in 2017

Ancillary activities

NWO | Utrecht | Adviseur | 2020-02-01 - present
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: DFG | Berlin | Adviseur | 2021-01-01 - present
Spanish Research Agency | Madrid | Adviseur | 2022-05-01 - present
Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC)) | Swindon | Adviseur | 2023-06-01 - present

Ancillary activities are updated daily