Rate My Professor Tova Holmes

Holmes directs a dynamic research program centered on probing beyond-Standard-Model physics, particularly novel signatures of supersymmetry, dark matter, and long-lived particles at the LHC. Her group specializes in unconventional analyses, including displaced taus and strongly interacting massive particles, employing cutting-edge Field-Programmable Gate Array technology for real-time data processing in the CMS Level-1 Trigger upgrade for the High-Luminosity LHC era. She is at the forefront of next-generation collider development, leading the US Muon Collider Collaboration and spearheading detector design and on-detector algorithms, supported by a 2025 Simons Foundation Targeted Grant. Holmes has co-authored highly cited publications such as "Performance of the ATLAS trigger system in 2015" (The European Physical Journal C, 2017), "Luminosity Determination in pp Collisions at √s=7 TeV Using the ATLAS Detector" (2011), and "Muon reconstruction performance of the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collision data at √s=13 TeV" (The European Physical Journal C, 2016). Her contributions have earned her the 2025 Sloan Research Fellowship, Department of Energy Early Career Award, Cottrell Scholar Award, University of Tennessee College of Arts & Sciences Professional Promise in Research and Creative Award, and selection as a Fermilab LHC Physics Center Distinguished Researcher for 2026. Holmes frequently delivers public lectures and colloquia on muon colliders at institutions including the University of Illinois and Stanford University, and she was featured on BBC Radio 4's Science in Action discussing collider futures. Her work shapes the trajectory of high-energy physics instrumentation and discovery strategies.