Are you a highly motivated student with excellent laboratory skills for performing state-of-the-art quantum physics experiments?

The strontium quantum gases group is headed by Prof. Florian Schreck and is part of the Quantum Gases and Quantum Information (QG&QI) cluster at the Institute of Physics (IoP) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The main focus of the group is the exploitation of Sr quantum gases for novel precision measurement techniques and the study of many-body physics. We have one open PhD position within our Innovative Training Network (ITN) MoSaiQC, which in this context are called early stage researchers (ESRs). This ITN trains 14 ESRs in 10 organizations from industry and academia. MoSaiQC is EU funded (project no. 860579) and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action.

What are you going to do

You will participate in network meetings across Europe, where you will learn about quantum technology from experts in the field and train essential skills, such as academic writing and outreach. You will participate in a summer school on clocks and organize a conference together with the other ESRs. You will spend half a year in the lab of a partner in either Copenhagen, Torun or Birmingham. You will participate in outreach events. During the public days of UvA you can present your experiment in talks and labtours or present physics demonstration experiments that you have developed and built. You are encouraged to join teams at UvA that prepare special events for minority groups, which encompass for example guiding pupils to create holograms.

ESR2 - Precision laser stabilization and locking: The core of ESR2's project is to develop an ultrastable laser and use it for research. ERS2 will build an ultrastable, high-finesse cavity and lock a laser to it such that it has a linewidth well below 1 Hz. Light will be sent from this laser through phase-stabilized fiber links to the superradiant clock we develop within iqClock and serve to characterize its precision. These characterizations will be used to identify precision limiting effects and to improve the clock. A further research opportunity is to use this laser for internal state control in our programmable quantum simulator. Another aspect of ESR2's work will be the development of a scalable and simple system to lock all lasers required to operate a superradiant clock

This ESR positions will be embedded within the projects described on our group website.

What do we require

The ESRs shall, at the date of recruitment, be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and shall not have been awarded a doctoral degree. They must not have resided or carried out their main activity (e.g. work, studies) in the Netherlands for more than 12 months in the three years immediately prior the recruitment date. Please take a look at the other open PhD positions on the Sr group website if you do not fulfil these eligibility criteria.

You hold a MSc. (or equivalent) in physics, have done an experimental Master project (or equivalent) in an optical, atomic or molecular physics lab.

Other skills and documents that would benefit your application are:

• working knowledge of a programming language (matlab, C++ or equivalent);
• excellent English oral and written communication skills;
• scientific publications.

Our offer

We offer a temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of four years (initial appointment will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of four 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 €2,434 to €3,111 (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. You will receive a mobility allowance to cover personal household, relocation and travel expenses. 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 6,000 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 – Institute of Physics

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 6,500, 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.

The Institute of Physics is situated in new, purpose-built laboratory and teaching space in the building of the Faculty of Science in the Science Park Amsterdam. This location also plays host to numerous national research institutes such as AMOLF (nanophotonics, biomolecular systems, photovoltaics), NIKHEF (Subatomic Physics) and CWI (mathematics and Computer Science), as well as ARCNL (Advanced Research Center for Nanolithography, which combines the leading Dutch tech firm ASML with both Amsterdam universities and AMOLF).