Marie Curie Early Career Researcher in Calorimetry for Proton Therapy (Ref:1536656)
The High Energy Physics group at UCL is seeking a talented, energetic, highly motivated early career researcher to play a leading role in the development of a calorimetry system for fast, accurate measurements of proton energies for a clinical proton therapy facility. Significant work has been carried out within the UCL HEP group to develop fast, accurate calorimeters for the SuperNEMO double beta decay experiment.
A programme of work is envisaged to adapt this calorimeter technology to the needs of clinical protons. The successful applicant will be expected to adapt existing Geant4 simulations to optimise the detector configuration for proton therapy. Initial measurements with the 60 MeV clinical proton beam at the Clatterbridge Cancer Centre have demonstrated the excellent performance of the detector. Further measurements will be required, at Clatterbridge and elsewhere, to measure the performance of the detector as the design develops.
The applicant will also be expected to assist in the design of the detector module to allow it to operate as a standalone unit within a treatment room and maximise the proton rate that can be measured. This will also require the development of software to carry out rapid analysis of the acquired light signals from the scintillator and reconstruct the proton energy spectrum, including the development of the necessary pulse-fitting and discrimination algorithms and suitable background rejection.
The UCL HEP group consists of around 80 staff and students, and provides an exciting and supportive research environment with involvement in particle phenomenology, neutrino experiments, direct Dark Matter searches, Particle Astrophysics, lepton sector experiments and accelerator R&D. Each researcher will benefit from a wide-ranging training programme that will take advantage of both local and network-wide activities. Where appropriate, the possibility exists for enrolling into a PhD programme at UCL.
The successful applicant should fit the academic and mobility requirements for an EU Early Career Researcher: at the time of recruitment, they
must be in the first four years (full-time equivalent) of their research careers and have not yet been awarded a doctoral degree.
This is measured from the date when they obtained the degree which would formally entitle them to embark on a doctorate, either in the
country
in which the degree was obtained or in the country in which the research training is provided, irrespective of whether or not a doctorate is
envisaged.
Researchers are normally required to undertake trans-national mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) when taking up their appointment. At the time of recruitment, researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of their host organisation for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date.
The candidate will be expected to have a graduate degree (or equivalent) in Physics or Medical Physics. Applicants who are coming to the end of a PhD programme but still meet the requirements for an Early Career Researcher are encouraged to apply.
Experience with both detector hardware and software development is highly desirable. Detailed knowledge of the Geant4 simulation toolkit is preferred.
The salary will be in the Researcher Grade 6 range: £28,957 - £35,952 depending on fellow circumstances.
The post is funded for a fixed term of 36 months as part of the Optimisation of Medical Accelerators (OMA) EU Horizon 2020 European Training Network. More information is available on the OMA-Project website: http://www.oma-project.eu
The expected start date is 1st October 2016 but an earlier start date can be negotiated.
Further details, and the information on how to apply can be found at this link.
For queries regarding the application process, please contact Angela Tran, a.tran AT ucl.ac.uk, (Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 3943).
Informal enquiries can be made to Dr. Simon Jolly s.jolly AT ucl.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is 28th March 2016.