PhD studentship on novel opaque scintillator detector R&D and neutrino physics (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

You will have the opportunity to work on the exciting and counter-intuitive idea of using opaque scintillators as particle detectors. Traditionally, light travels through a transparent scintillator to a photosensor. Our approach, called LiquidO, embeds a lattice of optical fibres in an opaque scintillator with a short scattering length. The scintillation photons are stochastically confined close to the point of production via scattering and extracted by the fibres, removing the need for manual segmentation to create high-resolution imaging detectors. There are many applications in particle physics and beyond. Further information can be found here: https://youtu.be/Ccc3ecIoowk.

You will join one of the largest groups developing this technology world-wide. Prof Jeff Hartnell co-leads the CLOUD neutrino experiment, which will deploy a 10-ton LiquidO detector 35 metres from Europe’s most powerful nuclear reactor cores at Chooz in France on the timescale of this studentship. The Sussex group also has a strong programme of in-house prototype development, construction, operation and analysis as well as characterisation of different scintillators and fibres.

This project also includes the opportunity to spend an extended period working overseas.

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/2023/03'.

Contact us

For more details about the project, please contact Prof Jeff Hartnell J.J.Hartnell@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.