Open Position Postdoctoral Position for the Neutrino group within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan – Funded by the European Union – Next Generation

About IFAE

The Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) is a public consortium of Generalitat de Catalunya, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, a public university) whose main goal is to carry out research and to contribute to the development of high energy physics from a theoretical, experimental and technological point of view. IFAE has the status of a “University Institute" attached to UAB and its premises are within the campus of the university.

About Neutrino group

Long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments have contributed to the understanding of the nature of neutrinos since almost 20 years. Recently, they also allowed to measure for the first time the CP violating phase in the leptonic sector, which might help to understand the observed matter/anti-matter asymmetry in the universe. The IFAE Neutrino group is involved in the long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiments in Japan, Hyper-Kamiokande (HK) and T2K (Tokai-To-Kamioka). T2K is currently running T2K has been leading this field for more than 15 years, and the group has contributed to the design, construction and operation of the experiment. Currently we carry out significant contributions to an ongoing upgrade of the near detector of the experiment, ND280. We are also involved in the preparation of the next generation experiment, Hyper-Kamiokande, the successor of T2K, which will start data taking in 2027.

Required skills and evaluation criteria

The successful candidate is expected to have:

• A PhD in Experimental Particle Physics or nuclear physics or equivalent.
• Experience in GEANT4 simulations and data analysis will be highly favourable
• Positively will be considered experience in instrumentation and detector R&D.

The candidate is expected to do international travel and stays for research purposes in addition to collaboration meetings and conferences.

The evaluation criteria and their weighting for the submitted applications will be the following:

• Scientific excellence based on the CV and recommendation letters: 30 points
• Adequation and interest for the offered position: 20 points
• Previous experience on the field: 15 point
• Software skills: 20 points
• Previous exposure to international environment: 15 points

What will be your role?

The successful candidate will work on the near detector of Hyper-Kamiokande, ND280. ND280 will be crucial for the success of the long-baseline neutrino oscillation programme of HK allowing to characterize the neutrino beam before the oscillation. To ensure that ND280 will be ready for data taking from day-1 of the HK experiment will be a challenge. In addition, simulation studies and R&D work are ongoing to optimize the performance of ND280 further with a future detector upgrade. The successful candidate is expected to contribute to these efforts. The time estimated to fulfil the tasks is about 14 months and they are part of the action line 6 (Neutrinos physics) of the project Advances technologies for the exploration of the Universe.

Offered contract:

A Full-time (40h/week) one position with a temporary contract Recovery plan linked to the project “Advances technologies for the exploration of the Universe and its components, of the area of Astrophysics and High Energy Physics”, within the frame of the R+D+I Complementary Plans of the Spanish Government. There will be a trial period of 6 months. Flexible schedule. Work with interesting experimental science. Travelling to scientific singular infrastructures. Opportunity to gain experience learning first-hand. Personal growth, innovation, and learning every day.

The position will correspond to “Investigador(a) postdoctoral (R2)” within the IFAE professional categories. Salary will be commensurate with experience and qualifications within the corresponding category range.

Application and Selection process:

Applications should be submitted to jobs@ifae.es stating the job reference (IFAE2023/28_PD_NEUTRINOS) as the subject of the message. The mail should include a cover letter and an updated CV. Sending CVs to the above address implies consent to the IFAE’s legal warning on data privacy .

The application must contain a personal identification number (DNI, NIE or passport) in order to proceed to the verification of absence of conflict of interest required by Recovery and Resilience Mechanism of the Spanish Government.

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 labour market in general and in Science and Engineering in particular, such as women, minorities, or people with a disability, are particularly encouraged to apply.

A Selection Committee will evaluate the received applications. If more than one candidate seems equally suitable for the position, the Selection Committee will arrange an on-line interview with each one of them as part of the Selection process.

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.

You may contact Thorsten Lux (Thorsten.Lux@ifae.es ) for any questions related to this job opening.

Funding Statement

This contract is part of the project Advances technologies for the exploration of the Universe and its components , of the area of Astrophysics and High Energy Physics, within the frame of the R+D+I Complementary Plans of the Spanish Government that are part component 17 of the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. This contract is funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU (MICINN/PRTR funds) and by Generalitat de Catalunya.