PhD studentship in Search for the stop squark with ATLAS

We are pleased to offer a fully funded studentship available to UK and EU nationals for a September 2017 start.
The University of Sussex Experimental Particle Physics group plays a critically important role in a number of experiments at the frontiers of our knowledge of particle physics, including the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider, and the SNO+ neutrinoless double beta decay experiment at SNOLAB (Canada), the NOvA and DUNE neutrino oscillation experiments at Fermilab (USA) and the Neutron EDM experiment at PSI (Switzerland).

The successful candidate will be working as part of the ATLAS-Sussex group and the ATLAS-SUSY 3rd Generation working group looking for the supersymmetric partner of the top quark (stop) in final states with jets, tau leptons and no light leptons (0lep stop). This is a flagship analysis in the search for the stop at ATLAS, with very high sensitivity for stop masses of the order of 1 TeV. The candidate will be responsible for the optimisation of signal regions for new data collected in 2017 and beyond, as well as the characterisation of the standard model background. In addition to data analysis, the candidate will also spend a significant amount of time to work on aspects of the ATLAS trigger, one of the main technical responsibilities of the ATLAS-Sussex group. Regular contact with CERN-based experts over an extended period of time, with the possibility of spending up to 18 months at CERN in the second year of the PhD, as well as regular attendance in person and videoconference to physics and trigger meetings are expected.

Award amount
£14254 (2016-17) per annum tax-free bursary and waiver of UK/EU fees each year for 3.5 years. Full-time study.
Eligibility
Applicants should hold, or expect to hold, a UK first class honours degree or a good UK Masters degree (or equivalent non-UK qualifications) in a relevant subject.
Due to funding restrictions, the studentship is open to UK and EU resident students only.

Procedure
Apply on-line via the University of Sussex portal, http://www.sussex.ac.uk/pgapplication . State in the Funding section of the application form that you are applying for an “EPP Studentship”.
Applications should include a CV, as well as transcripts of marks obtained on your degree(s) and the details of two academic referees.
Due to the large volume of applications that we receive, we regret we may only contact you if your application is successful.

Timetable
Early application is advised. The studentship will be allocated as soon as a suitable candidate is found. The very latest we can accept an application is 1st September 2017, but the position is likely to be filled before this date.

Further information
This is a full-time studentship. With agreement of the supervisor the student may take on a limited amount of teaching, for which additional payment will be made.
The award includes an additional training grant of £1650 p.a. for short courses, books, travel, conferences etc.
The Experimental Particle Physics Group research webpages can be found here: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/epp/

Contact details
The supervisor for this project will be Dr Fabrizio Salvatore. Informal queries about the project should be sent to him at [Email Address Removed]
Enquiries about your eligibility, the progress of your application and admission to Sussex, should be sent to Rebecca Foster at [Email Address Removed]