CAEN Summer school 2026

Europe/Rome
C/1-001 - Sala riunioni grande (CAEN Headquarter)

C/1-001 - Sala riunioni grande

CAEN Headquarter

Via della Vetraia, 11, 55049 Viareggio LU Italy
18
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Description

The 5th International Summer School on Open FPGA for Nuclear and Scientific Applications will be held at the CAEN S.p.A. Headquarters from July 20 to July 24, 2026. 

The program is structured around a balanced combination of theoretical lectures and hands-on laboratory sessions. It will start with the study of front-end electronics algorithms, including digital signal processing techniques commonly used in scientific and nuclear instrumentation, and an introduction to modern digitizers and FPGA-based systems.
Building on this theoretical background, the school will progressively focus on practical FPGA development using the SCI Compiler framework (https://www.sci-compiler.com/), guiding participants through the complete workflow of designing, implementing, and testing firmware for real-time data acquisition and processing.
During the hands-on sessions, each participant will be provided with their own experimental setup, allowing them to directly apply the concepts learned during the lectures. Students will develop complete processing chains—from signal acquisition and filtering to triggering, feature extraction, and data readout—while gaining practical experience in modular FPGA design, debugging, and performance optimization.

The school is targeted at students holding at least a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Nuclear Engineering, or related fields, and is also open to PhD students and young professionals from industry who wish to deepen their expertise in FPGA programming and data acquisition systems. 

Please note that only 12 positions are available. Selection will be based on the applicant’s Curriculum Vitae and stated fields of interest, which must be uploaded during the registration process. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance in the second half of April 2026.

Course fee: 700 EUR (VAT included)

All lessons and laboratory activities will be conducted in English.

    • 09:00 09:50
      Welcome to CAEN 50m
      Speaker: Jacopo Givoletti (CAEN s.p.a.)
    • 09:50 10:50
      Students present themselves 1h
      Speaker: Erica Fanchini (CAEN s.p.a.)
    • 10:50 11:10
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 11:10 13:00
      Introduction to Digitizers 1h 50m
      Speaker: Dr Massimo Venaruzzo (CAEN s.p.a.)
    • 13:00 14:15
      Lunch 1h 15m
    • 14:15 16:00
      Digital Pulse Processing Algorithm 1h 45m
      Speaker: Alberto Potenza
    • 16:00 16:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 16:20 18:05
      Digital Pulse Processing Algorithm - Demo 1h 45m
      Speaker: Alberto Potenza
    • 09:00 11:00
      Introduction of Open FPGA - Sci-Compiler 2h
      Speaker: Andrea Abba
    • 11:00 11:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 11:20 13:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 13:00 14:15
      Lunch 1h 15m
    • 14:15 16:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 45m
    • 16:00 16:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 16:20 18:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 09:00 11:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 2h
    • 11:00 11:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 11:20 13:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 13:00 14:15
      Lunch 1h 15m
    • 14:15 16:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 45m
    • 16:00 16:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 16:20 18:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 09:00 11:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 2h
    • 11:00 11:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 11:20 13:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 13:00 14:15
      Lunch 1h 15m
    • 14:15 16:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 45m
    • 16:00 16:20
      Coffee Break 20m
    • 16:20 18:00
      Hands-on Sci-Compiler 1h 40m
    • 09:30 10:30
      CAEN Headquarter Visit 1h
    • 10:30 11:30
      School Roundtable 1h
    • 11:30 12:00
      School certificates and final remarks 30m
    • 18:00 23:55
      Social Event - CAEN Summer Party 5h 55m