Postdoc Fast Timing Tracking Systems

Postdoc Fast Timing Tracking Systems.

The Nikhef organization
Nikhef is the national institute for subatomic physics in the Netherlands. At Nikhef, approximately 220 physicists and 80 technical staff work together in an open and international scientific environment.Together they perform theoretical and experimental research in the fields of particle and astroparticle physics. Nikhef is a partnership between six major Dutch universities and the NWO-I Foundation, the Institutes Organization of theDutch Research Council (NWO).

Nikhef participates in a wide range of research collaborations, including the ALICE, ATLAS and LHCb experiments at CERN, the KM3NeT neutrino telescope in the Mediterranean, the Virgo gravitational waves interferometer in Pisa, the Xenon-nT dark matter experiment in Gran Sasso, the Pierre Auger cosmic ray observatory in Argentina, and the eEDM research programme in Groningen. Nikhef furthermore has scientific groups on theory, physics data processing and detector R&D, and has excellently equipped technical departments in mechanics, electronics, and computing. Nikhef hosts a LHC Tier-1 dataprocessing center and offers substantial additional computing resources for end-user data analysis and simulation.

The group
The position offered here is part of an NWO-funded research program: “FASTER - Fast sensors and Algorithms for Space-time Tracking and Event Reconstruction”, which will comprise 7 PhD positions and 3 postdoc positions in the period 2023-2028, all focused on research of fast-timing tracking systems for the ALICE, ATLAS and LHCb and future experiments. Fast-timing tracking detectors, consisting of billions of pixels will precisely measure the time at which particles pass our detectors. Use of this information will enable the experiments to cope with the fierce environment of the high luminosity LHC where they will see unprecedented hit rates and levels of radiation. The consortium members bring together expertise on sensor technologies, detector hardware and advanced pattern-recognition algorithms.

In the FASTER program, we will research and develop novel fast-timing sensors, develop methods and algorithms to calibrate the time measurement at picosecond level. We will also research pattern recognition algorithms that make use of the time measurements to execute more efficiently and on heterogeneous computing architectures such as GPUs.

The position
We are looking for a postdoctoral candidate for the study, implementation and optimization of novel intelligent algorithms for real-time reconstruction of particle trajectories to be deployed at HL-LHC. The successful candidate will work closely together with a PhD student to design, implement and optimize parallel track reconstruction algorithms for use in LHCb with further application to ALICE and a test-beam setup for prototype sensors. These algorithms will make efficient use of provided timing information and target GPUs; other architectures can also be investigated. To improve the throughput of the reconstruction algorithms, the postdoc will work in close collaboration with other FASTER PhDs and postdocs on the design and implementation of data-preprocessing algorithms that can be executed earlier in the data-processing chain, e.g. on ASICs or FPGAs. The knowledge obtained will be applied to provide a demonstrator of high-throughput reconstruction algorithms for a test-beam setup. The successful candidate is expected to become member of the LHCb Collaboration at CERN-LHC.

What are we looking for?
We are looking for postdoctoral candidates with an (almost) completed PhD degree in high-energy physics, applied physics, computer science or in closely related fields. The ideal candidate has a strong interest in computing, has excellent software skills (C++, Python) and preferably has experience with parallel architectures such as GPUs and (some) experience on LHC physics.

Offer

The candidate will be employed by the NWO-I foundation for a period of two years and will obtain the status of postdoctoral researcher. The working location will be Amsterdam. She/he will receive a competitive salary. The conditions of employment are excellent and include extra months’ salary payment in May and December. The conditions of employment of the NWO-I-foundation can be found at https://www.nwo-i.nl/en/employees/

Further information and application
Qualified applicants are encouraged to apply by clicking the 'apply now' button below. Please be prepared to upload a curriculum vitae and a motivation letter, and have the email addresses of at least two referents ready, who are willing to send a letter of recommendation on your behalf. The deadline for applications is May 15, 2024. The starting date will be set on mutual agreement. Further information can be obtained from dr. Hella Snoek (h.snoek@nikhef.nl)

 All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply