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Cutaway computer-generated model of the DarkSide dark matter detector showing the layered structure of the experiment. The image depicts a central detector vessel surrounded by multiple shielding and support layers within a larger experimental enclosure. Colour-coded components illustrate the detector, cryogenic systems, shielding and structural framework used to isolate the experiment from background radiation and enable highly sensitive searches for dark matter particles. The word “DarkSide” appears beneath the model.

DarkSide is an international collaboration developing the next generation of dark matter detection experiments, with the DarkSide-20k detector currently under construction at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy. Building on the success of the earlier DarkSide-50 experiment, the collaboration is preparing a highly sensitive liquid argon detector designed to search for evidence of dark matter particles and explore one of the most important unanswered questions in fundamental physics. Through IRIS, UK researchers use computing and data infrastructure to support detector simulation, software development, workflow testing and the analysis of prototype and commissioning datasets. These activities help prepare the scientific and technical foundations required for future DarkSide-20k operations, while enabling the UK community to contribute to the development of advanced data-processing and analysis techniques for large-scale dark matter experiments