The Faculty of Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz has openings for a

 

Post-Doc and a PhD Student

 

at the Institute of Physics to be filled by December 2022. The institute hosts a number of experimental and theoretical working groups; the positions are assigned to Prof. Alfons Weber as part of the working group ‘Experimental Particle and Astroparticle Physics’.

Prof. Weber is starting new activities in the area of neutrino physics. These will concentrate on development of future neutrino experiments and technologies as well as analysis of data from existing experiments. The offered positions are within the context of the AM-OTech project (Anti-Matter-OTech: Novel Opaque Scintillator Technology for Nuclear Industry Imaging based on Anti-Matter Detection), funded through the European Innovation Council Pathfinder. AM-OTech, aims to monitor a reactor core and provide assistance in the dismantling of reactors. It is based on the R&D programme LiquidO, an innovative deep-tech detector for fundamental physics of antineutrinos and charged particles. The programme will take place at the Chooz power plant in the Ardennes, France. It is scheduled to start in 2022. For more information contact stefan.schoppmann@uni-mainz.de or a.weber@uni-mainz.de.

Prof. Weber’s group is part of the cluster of excellence PRISMA+ (‘Precision Physics, Fundamental Interactions and Structure of Matter’), dedicated to explore key questions of the fundamental constituents of matter and its cosmological implications. The above neutrino activities are supported by a well-equipped detector development laboratory, the local 1.6 GeV electron accelerator and TRIGA reactor. The department is strongly involved in a number of activities in high energy physics (ATLAS, NA62), dark matter searches (XENON, ALPS-II, IAXO), detector R&D and neutrinos (DUNE, T2K, IceCube, Borexino, JUNO, Project 8).

Post-Doc/Scientist (100% EG13, 26 months) The successful applicant is expected to have experience in software development, data analysis and/or detector development. Ideally, the applicant has previous experience in scintillator development and optical fibre detectors, detector simulations and/or data acquisition systems. They will be able to work independently and as part of an international team and co-supervise graduate and undergraduate students as well as to participate in teaching in the bachelor and master programmes (taught in English). Applicants should have a PhD in physics or equivalent and good knowledge of the relevant neutrino and detector physics.

PhD Student (67% EG13, 42 months) The successful applicant is expected to have a master’s degree in physics or equivalent and an interest in developing the next generation of neutrino detectors. They should have a sound knowledge of particle physics and be eager to learn how to build detectors and how to optimise them. They will have the opportunity to operate and simulate new detectors and analyse their data. An aptitude to understand electronics and detector hardware as well as programming skills to analyse data are essential.

All posts will require international travel and attendance of (online) meetings outside usual working hours.

Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz is aiming to increase the number of women among its scientific personnel and thus encourages women to apply.

Disabled applicants will be given preference, if equally qualified.

Qualified candidates are asked to submit their full application (including curriculum vitae, a brief summary of research experience and interests, and list of publications in a single PDF-file) to Katarina Marić (kmaric@uni-mainz.de), indicating the position they are applying for. Two letters of recommendation should also be sent to the same address.

Applications and the references should be received before 27th June 2022 for full consideration.