Open Position Predoctoral Position in Computing and Physics at the LHC with the ATLAS Detector

The High Energy Physics Institute in Barcelona (IFAE) announces the opening of a Predoctoral Position to participate in its hadron collider experimental program using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. IFAE is one of the top research centers in Spain conducting experimental and theoretical research at the frontier of fundamental physics, as well as developing cutting-edge detector technology. In 2012 and 2016, IFAE was awarded the distinction of “Severo Ochoa” Centre of Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness.

General information about IFAE is available at http://www.ifae.es .

IFAE maintains a strong presence in the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC), with major responsibilities on computing, the calibration and maintenance of the TileCal hadronic calorimeter and the Level-1 Topological Trigger system, and participates in the Pixel detector upgrade. The IFAE-ATLAS group contributes to Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) with 2 data centers, one of the 13 Tier-1 centers worldwide (the Port d’Informació Científica - PIC, located in Barcelona and operated together with the CIEMAT institute), and one of the 100+ WLCG Tier-2 centers, for ATLAS located in PIC as well. The group has also developed an exciting and broad research physics program that includes precision measurements of the top quark (e.g., four-top-quark production) and the Higgs boson (e.g., top-Higgs Yukawa coupling), and searches for new phenomena beyond the Standard Model (e.g., supersymmetry, vector-like fermions, leptoquarks, additional light or heavy Higgs bosons) using cutting-edge analysis techniques in machine learning like neural networks or anomaly detection.

The successful PhD candidate will join the IFAE-ATLAS group and will participate in computing aspects of the data processing of the ATLAS experiment. He/she will also play a leading role in physics analysis using the full Run 2 and Run 3 datasets.

Interested candidates with an excellent CV, a demonstrable English level, a proactive attitude and good communications skills, are encouraged to apply.

What we offer:

The recruiting center will be the Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE). The place of work will be the headquarters of PIC at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (https://www.pic.es ). The offered position is full-time (40h/week). The contract will be for 4 years. The position will correspond to Predoctoral Researcher within the IFAE professional categories. The successful candidate would start working at PIC no later than November 2023.

Requirements to apply:

Candidates must be enrolled or admitted to a doctoral program at a Spanish university, for the 2023/2024 academic year, or hold a degree that allows admission to the official doctoral programme on the date the contract is formalized.

Application submission:

Applications should be submitted to pic.jobs@pic.es stating the job reference (PIC2023-PREDOC-1) as the Subject of the message. The mail should include a cover letter, an updated CV and University and master scores.. Sending CVs to the above address implies consent to the legal warning at the bottom of IFAE’s Home Page.

Evaluation process:

The process of evaluation and selection guarantees the principles of competition, publicity and transparency. The recruitment of fellows consists in an open selection and the evaluation of candidates will be carried out according to the criteria of the call:

• Criteria 1: Academic and / or scientific-technical trajectory of the candidate (up to 50 points): 1.1 Scientific-technical contributions (up to 45 points): The academic record and other curricular merits of the candidate. Sub criterion 1.2 Mobility and internationalization (up to 5 points): The relevance and impact on the candidate’s research career stays in national and international centers and / or in the industrial sector.
• Criteria 2: Adequacy of the candidate to the research activities to be carried out (up to 50 points). More information about the evaluation criteria in the Article 12 of the official call (here)

A Selection Committee will evaluate the received applications.

IFAE is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity in the workplace and social integration of people with a disability. We welcome applications from all qualified candidates. People from groups that are typically underrepresented in the labor market in general and in Science and Engineering in particular, such as women, minorities, or people with a disability, are particularly encouraged to apply.

For more information on the proposed research projects, eligibility criteria, and the overall application process, please contact Dr. Andres Pacheco Pages (pacheco@ifae.es ) and Dr. Carles Acosta (cacosta@pic.es ) no later than October 1st, 2023.

In compliance with article 121 of the Spanish Public Sector Legal Regime Act, staff with a pre-existing relationship with the Consortium administration (Generalitat de Catalunya and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) will have priority in the awarding of the position.

Funding Statement

This contract is funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, FEDER and FSE (project PID2022-142604OB-C22).