PhD in Experimental Particle Physics

PhD Studentship on the SBND Neutrino Experiment (2026)

What you get

• Fully-paid tuition fees for three and a half years.
• A tax-free bursary for living costs for three and a half years (£20,780 per annum in 2025/26).
• Additional financial support is provided to cover short-term and long-term
  travel.
• If you are not a UK national, nor an EU national with UK settled/pre-settled
  status, you will need to apply for a student study visa before admission.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

Applications are invited from talented and creative students for a PhD place in Experimental Particle Physics, to join the Sussex group working on the SBND experiment under the supervision of Dr Clark Griffith. A number of experiments have shown anomalies in neutrino oscillation results, hinting at a possible additional neutrino state beyond the three present in the Standard Model. The Short Baseline Neutrino (SBN) programme at Fermilab aims to settle the question of whether or not the anomalies are real or not, with a set of three large liquid argon TPC neutrino detectors: ICARUS, MicroBooNE, and the Short Baseline Near Detector (SBND). SBND began taking physics data recently and is poised to publish first results imminently. In this project you will have the opportunity to analyse new SBND data towards searches for Beyond the Standard Model signatures. The liquid argon detection technology used in SBND is also the basis for the DUNE experiment currently under construction. DUNE will make use of the world’s most intense neutrino beam generated at Fermilab, which will travel to a far detector 1300 km away in the Sanford Lab in South Dakota, which will use tens of kilotons of liquid argon as the detector medium. The analysis techniques used in SBND will also be applicable to DUNE and the project will also involve studying the physics reach of DUNE and contributing to the installation of this next generation experiment.

Eligibility

Applicants must hold, or expect to hold, at least a UK upper second class degree (or non-UK equivalent qualification) in Physics/Mathematics, or a closely-related area, or else a lower second class degree followed by a relevant Master's degree.

This award is open to UK and International students

Deadline

28 February 2026 23:45

How to apply

Apply through the University of Sussex on-line system. 

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply/log-into-account

Select the PhD in Physics, with an entry date of September 2026.

In the Finance & Fees section, state that you wish to be considered for studentship no EPP/STFC/2026

We advise early application as the position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant can be found. Late applications may be accepted if places are still available.

Due to the high volume of applications received, you may only hear from us if your application is successful.

Contact us

If you have practical questions about the progress of your on-line application or your eligibility, contact FoSEM-PGR@sussex.ac.uk

For academic questions please contact the coordinator of EPP PhD admissions, Dr. Elisabeth Falk: E.Falk@sussex.ac.uk

Timetable

We advise early application as the position will be filled as soon as a suitable applicant can be found. Late applications may be accepted if places are still available.