Going underground - an interview with Roland Sipos, PhD student at CERN's Large Hadron Collider

NOTE: Subsequent to publication of this interview CERN has entered into an agreement with Overleaf to provide free Overleaf Pro+ accounts for all employees—for further information visit Overleaf's dedicated CERN portal.

"Seriously, you guys do an awesome job. Overleaf is one of the most helpful services in my life! Keep up the good work!" – Roland Sipos

It's not everyday you wake up to an email from a researcher based 100m underground in a 27km-long ring!

Roland is working on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, on (or rather, underneath) the Franco-Swiss border. We spoke to him recently to find out about his experiences writing his reports and papers on Overleaf.

Overleaf: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what you do?

Roland: My name is Roland Sipos, a PhD student in CERN, working for the CMS experiment as a computer scientist. My topic is related to research on NoSQL database technologies for handling a specific dataset.

Overleaf: What are the biggest challenges you face in your work?

Roland: The biggest challenge in my work is to understand and publish the results of different test scenarios for these NoSQL databases.

Overleaf: How did you first find out about Overleaf?

Roland: I heard about Overleaf from one of my ex-colleague who was also a PhD student in CERN when I was preparing a paper for a conference about a part of my research.

Overleaf: How would you describe your experience of using Overleaf?

Roland: Simply put, this is a service that I cannot imagine live without in the future. For someone who frequently needs to use LaTeX for reports and papers, this service is essential.

Overleaf: What's next for you and your work?

Roland: Finishing my PhD and - if possible - continue my work in CERN. :)

Overleaf: In summary, how would you describe Overleaf in a single sentence?

Roland: I would put it in this way: All your LaTeX related work in an OS independent, always online and best organized way.

Thanks for talking with us Roland - good luck with your PhD thesis, and in continuing at CERN :)