We are looking for an enthusiastic PhD student in Theoretical (astro-)particle physics to work on the phenomenology of Dark Matter.

The successful candidate will be embedded in the theory group of the Nikhef institute for high-energy physics. You will also be expected to interact with members of the experimental groups at Nikhef, and of the GRAPPA Center of Excellence in Gravitation and Astroparticle Physics at Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

The position is foreseen to start in Fall 2021.

What are you going to do?

Although Dark Matter is the most abundant form of matter in our universe, we know very little about its properties. This project aims to study the full phenomenology of Dark Matter, ranging from detector signals and astrophysical/cosmological constraints to model building. The focus will be on light Dark Matter particles, with GeV-scale masses or lower, as experimental efforts in this range have made rapid progress in recent years.

The project is in close collaboration with the experimental Dark Matter group working on the XENONnT detection experiment, who will hire a PhD student to work on the low-energy signals typical for light Dark Matter.

What do we require?

The successful candidate should:

• have a Master’s degree in Physics or equivalent (expected to be received by fall 2021);
• excel academically, as indicated by grade transcript and curriculum vitae;
• be fluent in spoken and written English;
• have an interest in sharing science with the wider non-scientist community.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students.

The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, will be €2,395 to €3,061 (scale P) gross per month, based on a full-time contract (38 hours a week), exclusive 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% end-of-year bonus. A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Then find out more about working at the Faculty of Science.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Science and the Nikhef Institute

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 7,000, as well as 1,600 members of staff working in education, research or support services. Researchers and students at the Faculty of Science are fascinated by every aspect of how the world works, be it elementary particles, the birth of the universe or the functioning of the brain.

Nikhef, the national institute for subatomic physics in the Netherlands, is a collaboration between six major Dutch universities and the Nikhef research institute. It is located on the same Science Park as the Institute of Physics, and there are close collaborations between the Institutes. Several Nikhef staff members have a shared position with the University of Amsterdam.

Nikhef hosts approximately 175 physicists and 75 technical staff members who work together in an open and international scientific environment. Jointly, they perform excellent theoretical and experimental research in the fields of particle- and astroparticle physics. Nikhef members participate in the ATLAS, LHCb and ALICE experiments at CERN, the KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean, the Virgo interferometer in Pisa, the XENON dark matter detector in Gran Sasso, Italy and the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory in Argentina.

The Nikhef theory group consists of 6 permanent staff members, and on average about 4 postdocs and 5 PhD students each year. Research ranges from QCD and Collider phenomenology to Dark Matter and Cosmology.