Open Position PhD Position in Medical Physics Group

About IFAE

The Institut de Física d’Altes Energies (IFAE) is a public consortium of the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Autonomous Government of Catalonia, and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, a public university) whose main objective 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 the UAB and its premises are within the campus of the University.

About the Medical Physics Group

The Medical Physics Group at IFAE is focused on the development of detector technologies for ionizing radiation. For the last 30 years, it has been working on the application of novel pixel detector technologies for X-ray, PET, and SPECT through European (ERC) and national funded projects. Since the advent of Timepix2, IFAE is part of the Medipix Collaboration at CERN and has actively contributed to the development of both Medipix3 and Medipix4/Timepix4 chips. The IFAE Medical group is presently collaborating with the nearby Institute of Microelectronics of Barcelona (IMB-CNM) within the SOFTPIX project. A project that aims at building an innovative detector for soft-x rays combining the capabilities of the Timepix4 chip and the novel Low Gain Avalanche Detector (LGAD) technologies developed at IMB-CNM. Moreover, IFAE has direct access to the cutting-edge technology developed in international fundamental physics research collaborations such as ATLAS, K2K, and CTA, fully available in-house resources for the integration of high-density pixel detectors, and a team of engineers that provides a unique environment to carry out ambitious projects in this field.

What will be your role?

• Characterize pixelated semiconductor gamma-ray detectors in the laboratory. This includes experimental design, data acquisition, and data analysis.
• Implement or fine-tune image reconstruction algorithms tailored to specific pixelated-based imaging prototypes.
• Deploy medical imaging system prototypes in preclinical imaging facilities.

Required skills and evaluation criteria

The successful candidate will be expected to have:

• A Master degree or equivalent in physics, computer science, or related field.
• Good English communication skills.
• Familiar with data analysis, data representation and programming.
• Capacity to collaborate in international and diverse groups.

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

• Experience in data analysis: 20 points.
• Experience in instrumentation: 30 points.
• Programming experience and knowledge: 20 points
• Motivation and involvement in the project: 30 points

Offered contract

• Full-time Contract (40 h/week)
• Temporal Contract
• The position will correspond to a Predoctoral Researcher.
• Salary will be proportional to experience and qualifications within the corresponding category range.
• Work with interesting experimental science. Opportunity to gain first-hand learning experience. Personal growth, innovation and learning every day.

Application and Selection process

Applications should be submitted to Gerard Ariño garino@ifae.es and rrhh@ifae.es stating the job reference (2025/09_ATRAE_PhDStudent) as the subject of the message. The mail should include a motivation letter, updated CV, and a full list of university grades, and arrange to have two letters of reference sent to the above e-mail addresses. For further information please contact: garino@ifae.es

Sending CVs to the above addresses 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.

Funding Statement