Research Associate

The School of Physics, Engineering and Technology brings physicists and engineers together to push the frontiers of knowledge, foster innovation and meet the grand challenges facing society. Our aim is to deliver world-leading research in both fundamental and applied areas whilst developing new technologies that work for the public good, in an environment where everyone can thrive.

As a School, equality, diversity, and inclusion are central to our culture and we strive to provide a working environment which allows all staff and students to contribute fully, to flourish, and to excel. We aim to ensure that there is a supportive and egalitarian culture at all levels and across all staff groups and offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds. We are proud to hold Juno Champion and Athena Swan silver awards, which recognise our commitment to creating an equitable and fully inclusive environment in which staff and students can thrive. We aim to inspire young people to engage with science and engineering through our outreach work.

A fixed-term Postdoctoral Research Associate position is available within the group of Dr Stefanos Paschalis in the Nuclear Physics Group at University of York to work on the Target Recoil Tracker (TRT) detector of the R3B experiment at GSI/FAIR facility in Germany; the R3B collaboration consists of more than 200 scientists from over 20 different countries. The R3B TRT is a state-of-the-art device that employs the ultrathin silicon-based MAPS (Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors) ALPIDE sensors, developed by the ALICE collaboration. The TRT offers unprecedented tracking resolution in a compact configuration and aims to enable new and precision measurements at the frontier of nuclear science exploiting quasi-free scattering reactions with relativistic radioactive ions at GSI/FAIR.

Role

The successful candidate will have a strong interest in ionising radiation detector technology and experimental nuclear physics research. This post will play a key role in the construction of the R3B TRT device, which is led by the University of York and Daresbury laboratory in the UK in collaboration with our international partners. The work requires oversight of the assembly and characterisation of the detector modules, software development for data analysis, simulation and data acquisition, documentation for the assembly, characterisation and operation phases. The work also requires supporting in-beam commissioning and physics experiments at R3B. Both the assembly/characterisation phase and the in-beam experiments require extended stays at facilities away from York. This is an exciting post where the PDRA will have the opportunity to lead the developments towards the realisation of this state-of-the-art device and participate in one of Europe’s largest nuclear physics collaborations.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed

You will have:

• PhD in Experimental Nuclear or Particle Physics or equivalent experience
• Hands-on experience with ionising radiation detection technology
• Experience with data analysis and simulations
• Ability to organise, prioritise and coordinate research work
• Experience in working within a large, international collaboration with demonstrated team working skills

Interview date: To be confirmed

For informal enquiries: please contact Dr. Stefanos Paschalis on stefanos.paschalis@york.ac.uk or contact Prof. Marina Petri on marina.petri@york.ac.uk 

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive  – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

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