Research Associate

Department
The School of Physics, Engineering and Technology brings physicists and engineers together to push the frontiers of knowledge, foster innovation and meet the grand challenges facing society. Our aim is to deliver world-leading research in both fundamental and applied areas whilst developing new technologies that work for the public good, in an environment where everyone can thrive.

As a School, equality, diversity, and inclusion are central to our culture and we strive to provide a working environment which allows all staff and students to contribute fully, to flourish, and to excel. We aim to ensure that there is a supportive and egalitarian culture at all levels and across all staff groups and offer a range of family friendly, inclusive employment policies, flexible working arrangements, staff engagement forums, campus facilities and services to support staff from different backgrounds. We are proud to hold Juno Champion and Athena Swan bronze awards, which recognise our commitment to creating an equitable and fully inclusive environment in which staff and students can thrive. We aim to inspire young people to engage with science and engineering through our outreach work.

The York nuclear physics group is one of the largest groups in the UK, with 14 academic staff leading a range of experimental and theory programmes. The group is diverse and focused on investigating strongly interacting matter over a wide range of distance scales - from quarks, through atomic nuclei to astrophysical objects such as neutron stars. The Nuclear astrophysics group utilises world-leading radioactive ion beam facilities as well as stable beams to address fundamental questions on the role of nuclear physics in stellar processes and the origin of the chemical elements.

Role
We are currently seeking a 2-year Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA), with the possibility of a 1-year extension. This role will contribute to and lead science aspects relating to our current experimental programmes of direct measurements and transfer reaction studies. The successful candidate will be based at York and spend significant periods at overseas laboratories. The work will involve taking the lead in the experimental preparation and data taking for key measurements (e.g. using TUDA, DRAGON, TACTIC, EMMA@TRIUMF, ENGE-SP@TUNL, HELIOS@ANL, etc) as well as data analysis and physics interpretation. The successful candidate will be encouraged to develop their own complementary programme and support the ongoing work of the group.

Skills, Experience & Qualification needed
You will have:

• A PhD in Experimental Nuclear physics, or closely related field by the appointment start date.
• Strong level of understanding and communication in English.
• Experience of setting up and running detector (e.g. silicon detectors, vacuum, gas handling and HV systems) and data acquisition systems.
• Knowledge of the Linux environment and coding in C/C++ or a similar language.
• Experience with scientific software (e.g. ROOT, GEANT4) and high-level analytical skills.
• Ability to work independently.
• Ability to effectively communicate physics outputs in conferences and collaboration meetings.

Interview date: TBC.

For informal enquiries: please contact Professor Alison Laird at alison.laird@york.ac.uk or contact pet-hr@york.ac.uk.

The University strives to be diverse and inclusive – a place where we can ALL be ourselves.

We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, Asian or from a Minority Ethnic background, who are underrepresented at the University.

We offer family friendly, flexible working arrangements, with forums and inclusive facilities to support our staff. #EqualityatYork

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