We would like to congratulate the following PhD graduates who successfully defended their theses in the winter of 2026:
Jakob Beise
- Thesis title: Improving Supernova Neutrino Detection in IceCube-Gen2
- Defense date: March 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: Uppsala University/Erin O’Sullivan
Nora Feigl
- Thesis title: Noise characterization and performance evaluation of new optical sensors for the IceCube Upgrade
- Defense date: February 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: DESY/HU, Summer Blot and Marek Kowalski
Spencer Griswold
- Thesis title: Detecting Core Collapse Supernova Neutrinos using the IceCube Neutrino Observatory
- Defense date: December 2025
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: University of Rochester/Segev BenZvi
Caterina Boscolo Meneguolo
- Thesis title: Realtime Neutrino Alerts for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics: the Gamma-Ray Follow-Up (GFU) Platform for IceCube
- Defense date: March 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: University of Padova/Elisa Bernardini, Sarah Louise Mancina
Josh Peterson
- Thesis title: Improved Techniques for the Determination of the Neutrino Mass Ordering with IceCube DeepCore and the IceCube Upgrade
- Defense date: January 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: University of Wisconsin–Madison/Francis Halzen
Pranav Sampathkumar
- Thesis title: Generative Neural Networks for Simulating Radio Emission from Extensive Air Showers
- Defense date: February 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: KIT/Ralph Engel
Alan Zander
- Thesis title: Testing the Neutrino Sector of Low-Scale Gravity Theories
- Defense date: February 2026
- Institution/Thesis Advisor: TUM/Philipp Eller