PhD opportunities in Particle Physics at RHUL

The Centre for Particle Physics at Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) is now recruiting for studentships to carry out research towards the PhD degree. The starting date of the studentships is October 2009. Please see below, under "Additional Information", for more information about the group, contact details, funding sources, and application form.

PhD studentships

The Centre for Particle Physics has a long tradition of participating in Particle Physics experiments, and also has an Accelerator Science group (part of the John Adams Institute for Accelerator Science). At the moment we are expanding into the area of Particle Physics phenomenology: we are members of the recently created NExT Institute (New connections between Experiment and Theory), and have appointed two new academic posts in this area.

The main research areas which we are now recruiting for are the ATLAS experiment in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN, Accelerator Science research towards the development of future particle accelerators, and Particle Physics phenomenology.

In brief, our group's main interests in these areas are

• ATLAS programme: analysis of the experimental data in order to search for the Higgs boson, supersymmetric particles and evidence of extra dimensions, and the physics of the top quark. We also have a major involvement in the trigger and data acquisition system. The ATLAS experiment is expected to collect its first proton-proton collision data in Summer 2009.

• Accelerator Science programme: development of novel electron accelerator diagnostics, such as laser-wire beam measurement devices, resonant cavity beam position monitors and beam generated radiation monitoring. We are also involved in studies leading to the realisation of a future linear collider, and upgrades of the LHC.

• Phenomenology programme: phenomenology of Large Hadron Collider searches for dark matter candidates and for signatures of other new physics processes. Further information can be found here.

Students in our group spend their first three months following an intensive training programme consisting of postgraduate-level lectures in their area of research. For instance, students in the experimental particle physics area attend several lecture courses on advanced particle physics topics, together with students from other University of London colleges. In January of their first year they begin their research project. They are likely to spend some time in the exciting atmosphere of CERN or other accelerator labs in their first and second years giving the opportunity of meeting students from many other countries as well as senior particle physicists and maybe a Nobel prizewinner or two. At the end of their first year the students will attend a two-week UK Summer School aimed at experimental or theoretical particle physics postgraduates, as appropriate: respectively, the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Summer School and the British Universities Summer School in Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics (BUSSTEPP). In addition, our students normally attend a summer school outside the UK at the end of the second year.

Funding for studentships from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is available to work in the ATLAS and Accelerator Science programmes. Funding for two studentships in the Phenomenology programme of the NExT institute is also available. Additional funding opportunities, from RHUL, may also be available; please see below.

Additional information

• The RHUL Centre for Particle Physics
• The John Adams Institute (JAI) for Accelerator Science
• The NExT Institute (New connections between Experiment and Theory)
• Postgraduate Opportunities in Particle Physics at RHUL (poster)
• The RHUL Graduate School website (including: online application; other funding possibilities)
• Information about STFC sudentships

Enquiries