PhD Studentship: On the NOvA Experiment

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/epp/  Applications are invited from talented and creative students for a PhD place in Experimental Particle Physics, to join the Sussex group working on the NOvA experiment under the supervision of Dr Lily Asquith.  The NOvA experiment uses the world’s most powerful neutrino beam provided by Fermilab in Chicago, USA to measure the oscillation of muon-type to electron-type neutrinos using a pair of detectors separated by 800 km. NOvA will continue with more than a decade of data-taking until around 2027, and so is entering the most important era in terms of data analysis. Exploitation of the huge final data set will require creative thinking in addition to the development of machine learning techniques and novel approaches to the treatment of systematic uncertainties. The Sussex NOvA group comprises two faculty, two postdocs, and three PhD students. We are leading the effort to use thousands of “test beam” particles to improve the measurements of the oscillation parameters, including the Charge-Parity violation parameter that could reveal the secret of our matter-dominated universe. Funding is available for a September 2024 start which includes a tax-free bursary (£18,662 per annum in 2023/24) and fully paid tuition fees for 3.5 years at the home-student level (£4,712 per annum in 2023). Additional financial support is provided to cover short-term and long-term travel. 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. 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. Applications close at 23:45 on 5th April 2024.  For more details about the project, please contact Dr Lily Asquith: L.Asquith@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. 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 studentships.