The Cold QCD group at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) - Physics Department - has an opening for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position.

The Physics Department at BNL is strongly involved in the realization of the EIC, a facility that will advance the long-term vision for Nuclear Physics. In December 2019 the US Department of Energy (DOE) gave green light to the EIC project by declaring critical decision CD-0 (“mission need”) and selecting BNL as the site to host the EIC. The realization of such a facility is of highest priority for the QCD community in the US. The BNL Cold QCD group has been playing a major role in developing the EIC science case as well as developing EIC detector concepts and integrating the physics requirements into the EIC interaction region design.

The selected candidate is expected to have a leading role in paving the way to a successful program on the spatial partonic imaging of a proton at the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). We plan to quantify the expected EIC impact in disentangling contributions from various partonic flavors to the generalized parton distribution functions (GPDs) and assess the feasibility of extracting the energy-momentum tensor, that encodes how gravity couples to matter and generates fundamental properties such as mass and spin. We also aim at carefully evaluate the requirements in terms of luminosity and kinematic reach that will drive the EIC detector design.

Essential Duties and responsibilities: The selected candidate is expected to participate in the code development for a novel Monte Carlo generator of hard exclusive processes, based on available and upcoming GPD models, featuring first and second order initial- and final-state radiative effects. She/he will also help with encoding different models into common platforms like the PARTONS framework. Finally, he/she will perform impact studies based on the extraction of GPDs by performing a global analysis of current and future measurements of hard exclusive processes in e+p scattering. Work with detector-response simulation software is also envisioned. Close interaction with all our collaborators will be essential for progress on all aspects of this program. The person selected will work closely collaborators at NCBJ-Warsaw (Poland), CEA-Saclay (France), Mainz University (Germany), Zagreb University (Croatia) and the Stony Brook University. Travel to NCBJ-Warsaw [for up to 4 month/year] and CEA-Saclay [2 weeks/year] is expected. 

Required knowledge and skills: We are seeking a talented individual with a strong experience in nuclear physics phenomenology and in scientific computing. Understanding of the software development paradigms in the field of nuclear / high-energy physics, and a strong background in C++ programming is required. Active experience in the field of partonic imaging and GPDs, and familiarity with the phenomenology of exclusive processes is highly desirable.

The position is for a period of 2 years and can be renewed for one more year depending on performance and availability of funds. Candidates applying for this position should hold a Ph.D. in Particle or Nuclear Physics received within the past five years. When applying for a position, please provide the name and email addresses of at least 3 references. In case of questions please contact Dr. Salvatore Fazio (sfazio@bnl.gov).

To be considered for this position, please apply online at https://jobs.bnl.gov/ and enter the Job ID 2407 into the keyword search field. In addition, please forward a copy of your application to sfazio@bnl.gov directly.

Brookhaven National Laboratory is an equal opportunity employer committed to ensuring that all qualified applicants receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, status as a veteran, disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.