PhD studentship in EPP

PhD Studentship on the ATLAS 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

A fully funded PhD studentship is available to join the Sussex team working on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider. The student will work under the main supervision of Dr Kate Shaw. 

The Sussex ATLAS group has had a long standing and significant involvement in the final state top-antitop plus X to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model utilizing and developing new Machine Learning techniques, and effective field theory (EFT) interpretations. The focus of the PhD project will be to significantly contribute to these efforts using ATLAS Run-3 data. The student will also spend their time on technical tasks that are well aligned with Sussex’s institutional responsibility on the ATLAS trigger. There will also be opportunities for training and involvement in particle physics outreach and communication projects or working with ATLAS Open Data for research and for education.

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

13 March 2026 23:00

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 EPP3/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. W Clark Griffith: W.C.Griffith@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.