Miroslav Macko is an expert in simulations and data analysis for ultra-rare event searches. He received his master degree in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Fedor Šimkovic, focusing on nuclear theory and QRPA model calculations — a key tool for evaluating nuclear matrix elements in neutrinoless double beta decay (0νββ). In 2015, he began his Ph.D. and joined the SuperNEMO Collaboration (supernemo.org), which built a unique detector for 0νββ searches equipped with a tracking system. In 2018, he earned a double Ph.D. from Université de Bordeaux (France) and Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia), supervised by Prof. Fabrice Piquemal and Assoc. Prof. Ivan Štekl. His doctoral work combined simulation and experimental studies, including neutron background simulations, sensitivity estimates for 0νββ with Majoron emission, precision activity measurements, and energy calibration mapping using Bi-207 sources. Through these tasks, he gained extensive experience with plastic scintillators, multiwire drift chambers, pixel detectors (Timepix), ultra-low background techniques, and energy calibration.
In 2019, he joined the TRITIUM project at LP2i Bordeaux, focused on real-time tritium monitoring in water, and later that year moved to Prague as a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, Czech Technical University. There, he rejoined SuperNEMO and built a team developing track reconstruction algorithms, energy calibration tools, and sensitivity studies for both two-neutrino (2νββ) and neutrinoless (0νββ) double beta decay. Since 2023, he has served as Deputy Physics Coordinator of the SuperNEMO experiment. Up to 2025, he has supervised four bachelor theses, four master theses, 17 internships, and co-supervised one Ph.D. thesis, mentoring students from universities in Slovakia, Czechia, Ukraine, and the United States.
Currently, he collaborates with Prof. Masayuki Wada on DarkSide, a project dedicated to dark matter searches.
Science popularization: Miroslav Macko took part in the central European round of French science popularization competition “Ma thèse en 180 secondes 2021” (LINK) and in 2024 he also participated in internal SuperNEMO collaboration video making contest (LINK).
2025-now: postdoc at Astrocent, NCAC PAS (Poland)
2019-2025: postdoc at IEAP CTU in Prague (Czech Republic)
2019: postdoc at LP2i Bordeaux (France)
role: Leader
SONATA‑21 grant from the National Science Centre (NCN) for the project: STAR: Scalable Tracking for Advanced Rare‑event detection (Polish title: "STAR: Skalowalne śledzenie do zaawansowanego wykrywania rzadkich zdarzeń") The STAR project will explore an innovative combination of dual‑phase liquid‑argon TPC technology doped with xenon and the Timepix4 high‑granularity charge‑readout ASIC. This approach has the potential to deliver the scalability, energy resolution, and precise tracking required to reach sensitivities capable of probing the normal ordering of neutrino masses. The project will include detector simulations, development of track‑reconstruction software, construction of a small‑scale prototype, and demonstration of electron‑track reconstruction. | Project budget: PLN 1 460 100 | Duration: 36 months
Granted by National Science Centre
role: Deputy Physics Coordinator of the SuperNEMO experiment
Work on the development of track reconstruction algorithm for SuperNEMO, its calibration, simulations and estimation of sensitivites towards several different modes of double beta decay. Contribution to SuperNEMO´s construction, especially to the tasks related to the plastic scintillators and optical modules.
Granted by Czech Technical University in Prague
Winner of the Slovak round of French science popularization competition “Ma thèse en 180 secondes 2021”
Dean´s Award (FMPHI, Comenius University in Bratislava) for the best dissertation thesis 2018/2019 (category: physics)
Dean´s Award (FMPHI, Comenius University in Bratislava) for the best work of Student Conference 2017 (category: physics, Ph.D. students)