Nikhef, the national institute for subatomic physics in The Netherlands, is looking for a PhD student in experimental particle physics in the Ultra-High-Energy Cosmic Ray group (Nijmegen).

The Cosmic Ray group at Nikhef is a member of the Pierre Auger Collaboration that operates world's largest cosmic ray observatory in Argentina. The focus of the group is on studying the highest-energy events, and in particular on determining the particle type at the highest energy as a tool for astronomical and particle physics studies. The group follows two main experimental approaches, studies using the detection of radio frequency radiation from air showers and studies using the surface detector presently consisting of water cherenkov tanks and in the near future enhanced by an additional scintillator layer on top of the tanks. In addition to the efforts in the Pierre Auger Collaboration, there is an involvement to prepare a next generation huge area ultra-high-energy neutrino and cosmic ray observatorium using the radio detection technique.

We are looking for an ambitious PhD student to work on the determination of the incoming cosmic particle type with the use of the surface detector. With an event-by-event particle determination the analysis of the anisotropy of arrival directions will be pursued. When successful this will be a highlight contribution to the collaboration and to ultra-high-energy cosmic ray physics. The PhD student will also contribute to the scintillator surface module construction effort in Nijmegen.

The successful candidate has a master in physics with knowledge of particle physics. Strong software skills are desirable.

Fixed-term contract: 4 years.

The candidate will be employed by the NWO-I-foundation and will obtain the status of junior scientist. He/she will receive a 4 year contract. The PhD student will be stationed at the Radboud University in the 2000 year old city and student town of Nijmegen, with trips to the site of the observatory in Argentina and other meeting places as opportune.

Your gross monthly starting salary will be € 2.291,-, increasing to € 2.937,- in the fourth year. The conditions of employment of the NWO-I-foundation are excellent and can be found on www.nwo-i.nl.

Nikhef

Nikhef is the national institute for subatomic physics in The Netherlands. At Nikhef, approximately 175 physicists and 75 technical staff members work together in an open and international scientific environment. Together, they perform theoretical and experimental research in the fields of particle and astroparticle physics. The Nikhef institute is a collaboration between five major Dutch universities and the Dutch Foundation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Nikhef participates in large research collaborations, including the ATLAS, LHCb and ALICE experiments at CERN, the KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean, the VIRGO interferometer in Pisa, the Xenon1T dark matter experiment in Gran Sasso, the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory in Argentina and the eEDM research programme in Groningen. Nikhef also hosts a group in theoretical physics, and groups for Physics Data Processing and detector R&D, all with good connections to the experimental programs.