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 16 ESRs in 10 organizations from industry and academia. MoSaiQC is EU funded (project no. 860579) and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action.

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 and regular consortium meetings with the other ESRs. You will spend time in the lab of a consortium partner. 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.

The ESRs shall at the date of recruitment be in the first four years (full-time equivalent research experience) of their research careers and have not 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 (www.strontiumBEC.com) if you do not fulfil these eligibility criteria.

Zero-deadtime optical clock
In this project you will build an optical clock based on continuous readout of the Sr clock transition. The clock will exploit our continuous ultracold Sr source technology [Nature 606, 683 (2022)] to prepare large samples of ultracold atoms without losing track of time while preparing those samples. This will enable to reach high clock precision after short averaging times, which is important to improve clock stability and for many clock applications. You will be involved in every aspect of building your clock, from electronics, over lasers, optics, frequency combs, ultrastable resonators to vacuum chambers. Once the clock is operational you will use it to collaborate with other research teams, comparing zero-deadtime and superradiant clocks, enabling precise qubit operations in our quantum computer, or studying fundamental physics with precision spectroscopy (with our colleagues at the Free University). The first 16 months of this project are part of the MoSaiQC consortium. During this time you will develop the clock interrogation zones and design the system that delivers atoms continually into those zones. During the remaining duration this 4-year PhD project will be part of QuantumDelta NL.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• Designing, constructing and debugging ultracold atom experiments;
• conducting research, resulting in academic publications in peer-reviewed international journals and/or books;
• supervising Bachelor and Master theses and tutoring students;

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:

• hands-on experience with experimental techniques used in an ultracold atom lab, such as electronics, lasers, optics;
• working knowledge of a programming language (C++, Python, matlab or equivalent);
• good English oral and written communication skills.

To foster diversity in our research group, we will especially appreciate applications from groups underrepresented in science.

PhD position

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). The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. You will learn about many deep tech topics (electronics, software, lasers, optics, vacuum, ultracold atoms, optical clocks, time and frequency networks, …) The work should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis) and provide an excellent preparation for many deep tech jobs in academia and industry. 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 gross monthly salary, based on 38 hours per week and dependent on relevant experience, ranges between € 2,541 to € 3,247 (scale P). This does not include 8% holiday allowance and 8,3% year-end allowance. A favourable tax agreement, the '30% ruling', may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with housing for a studio or small apartment when you're moving from abroad.

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.

Faculty of Science

The University of Amsterdam is the Netherlands' largest university, offering the widest range of academic programmes. At the UvA, 30,000 students, 6,000 staff members and 3,000 PhD candidates study and work in a diverse range of fields, connected by a culture of curiosity.

The Faculty of Science has a student body of around 8,000, as well as 1,800 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) and the Quantum Delta NL Ultracold Quantum Sensing Testbed.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.