With first collisions expected in late 2009, the summer of 2009 will be an opportune moment to study LHC phenomenology with an emphasis both on the first years of data taking at the LHC, and and on the experimental and theoretical tools needed to exploit that potential.

This advanced summer school on LHC Physics will cover a broad spectrum of experimental and theoretical activity in particle physics, from the searches for the Higgs boson and physics beyond the Standard Model, to studies of Quantum Chromodynamics, the B-physics sector and the properties of dense hadronic matter in heavy-ion collisions.

The School includes twelve days of lectures with evening discussions and  a poster session. A range of cultural activities including whisky tasting, castle visits and Scottish folk dancing add a unique element to the School.

The lectures and informal discussions are by recognised leaders in their field and include an introduction to the LHC itself as well as the theoretical and phenomenological framework of hadron collisions. The current theoretical models of frontier physics, as well as an overview of the main detector components and the expected initial physics samples will be described. Examples of physics analyses drawn from the current Tevatron experience will help to inform these exchanges.

The school will cover all topics at a pedagogical level, starting with an introduction to the Standard Model and its most likely extensions. Theoretical training will be supplemented by courses on the LHC and the associated detector capabilities. Search strategies will be underpinned  by courses on statistical techniques and the Grid computing analysis environment. In each area the aim of the school will be to equip young particle physicists with the right tools to extract the maximum benefit from the LHC experiments at start-up.

The fee for the school is 960GBP.  This includes meals and accommodation in John Burnet Hall, St Andrews. Bursaries will be available to support some participants who register before the closing date of 15th March 2009.

The School is organised by the Universities of Durham, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

• Directors: Tony Doyle (Glasgow), Nigel Glover (Durham)
• Organisers:  Thomas Binoth, Phil Clark, Peter Clarke, Stephan Eisenhardt, Victoria Martin, Leanne O'Donnell (Edinburgh), Craig Buttar, Colin Froggatt and Suzanne Scott (Glasgow)