University of Sussex PhD Studentship on the SBND Neutrino Experiment (2024)

What you get

Funding is available for a September 2024 start which includes a tax-free bursary (£18,662 per annum in 2023/24) and fully paid (at the Home student level) tuition fees for 3.5 years. Additional financial support is provided to cover short-term and long-term travel.

Type of award

PhD Studentship

PhD project

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 will begin commissioning in 2024, and this project will initially focus on tuning and optimisation of the detector with commissioning data, with the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time located at Fermilab during this crucial and exciting stage of the SBN programme. The project may also involve an analysis searching for evidence of dark neutrino signals in SBND data, a possible Beyond the Standard Model (BSM) explanation for short baseline anomalies seen in the MiniBooNE experiment.

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/epp/

Eligibility

Home and Overseas students are eligible to apply.

UK students are eligible for home tuition fees, as are EU students with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme. Outstanding students not eligible for home fees may be considered for a partial tuition fee waiver above that level.

Deadline

How to apply

Applications: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply

Please state in the Finance section of the online form that you are applying for 'STFC/EPP/2023/02'.

Contact us

For more details about the project, please contact Dr Clark Griffith: W.C.Griffith@sussex.ac.uk.

For practical questions about applications and/or eligibility for funding, please contact mps-pgrsupport@sussex.ac.uk

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

Timetable

Interviews of shortlisted candidates will be held in February and March initially and will continue until positions are filled. Applications from self-funded students interested in available projects are also welcome at any time of the year.