We are pleased to announce the 2026 Fall School on Interdisciplinary Neutrino Science, to be held in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, from 11 to 14 November 2026. The theme of this year’s School is Neutrino Geoscience.
The Fall School will take place immediately before Neutrino Geoscience 2026, the international workshop to be held in Zhuhai from 16 to 19 November. Together, the School and the Workshop will provide a platform for education, interdisciplinary exchange, and the development of new collaborations among the neutrino-physics and Earth-science communities.
Background
Neutrinos and antineutrinos provide unique probes of regions that cannot be accessed directly. Geoneutrinos produced by radioactive decays inside the Earth offer an experimental means of studying the abundance and distribution of heat-producing elements, the terrestrial heat budget, and the composition and evolution of the crust and mantle.
Measurements by KamLAND, Borexino, and SNO+ have established geoneutrino science as an important interdisciplinary field. The recent first geoneutrino results from JUNO, together with the continued development of existing and future experiments, are opening a new era of higher-statistics and higher-precision studies. At the same time, advances in geological modelling, geochemistry, geophysics, nuclear data, detector technologies, directional reconstruction, and multi-messenger tomography are creating new opportunities for understanding the Earth through the combined use of complementary observations.
Realizing the full scientific potential of these measurements requires researchers who can communicate across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Particle physicists must understand the assumptions and uncertainties of geological models, while Earth scientists must become familiar with neutrino production, detection, backgrounds, statistical analysis, and experimental limitations. The Fall School is being organized to help build this shared foundation.
Objectives and programme
The School is intended primarily for graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and other early-career scientists interested in neutrino physics, geophysics, geochemistry, geology, planetary science, nuclear physics, and related fields.
Lectures and discussions will introduce the essential concepts and methods of neutrino geoscience, including:
- neutrino and antineutrino physics;
- geoneutrino production and detection;
- results and prospects of current and future experiments;
- detector response, backgrounds, and statistical analysis;
- the structure, composition, and thermal evolution of the Earth;
- geological modelling around detector sites;
- crustal and mantle contributions;
- geochemical and geophysical constraints on Earth models;
- directional detection and ocean-based measurements;
- neutrino tomography and other multi-messenger approaches to studying the Earth.
The programme will combine introductory and advanced lectures with tutorials, discussions, and opportunities for direct interaction with specialists from different disciplines. Particular emphasis will be placed on helping participants understand how experimental measurements and Earth models can be compared within consistent uncertainty frameworks.
Venue and accommodation
The School will be held in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China, on the Zhuhai campus of Sun Yat-sen University. More detailed information concerning the meeting venue, transportation, registration, and arrival/local arrangements will be provided later on this website.
Accommodation for accepted students will be arranged by the local organizers. The organizers will also cover their local expenses during the School, in accordance with the arrangements specified in the acceptance notification.
Participants accepted for the Fall School will also be encouraged to attend Neutrino Geoscience 2026, providing them with an opportunity to connect the foundational material presented during the School with the latest research results and discussions at the international workshop.
Welcome
We warmly welcome applications from students and early-career researchers throughout the world. Applicants from both neutrino physics and the Earth sciences are particularly encouraged to participate. No previous specialization in neutrino geoscience is required, but applicants should have a strong interest in interdisciplinary research and in communicating across conventional academic boundaries.
Through this Fall School, we hope to introduce a new generation of researchers to neutrino geoscience, strengthen connections between experimental and theoretical communities, and promote long-term international collaboration in this rapidly developing field.
We look forward to welcoming you to Zhuhai in November 2026
