opportunity:
2 PhD positions available for 22-23 start!
Work with next-generation compact particle accelerator technologies
An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Medical Accelerator Physics group at the University of Melbourne, Australia, who are seeking 2 new PhD candidates to commence in 2022-2023. Based in the School of Physics, the students will join the research team of the new X-Band Laboratory for Accelerators and Beams (X-LAB), developed in collaboration with CERN (home of the Large Hadron Collider).
Particle accelerators are everywhere: there are now around 50,000 accelerators in the world mostly operating in hospitals, high-tech factories, ports and even mining sites. During the past decade, the drive to develop particle colliders to explore fundamental physics has led to breakthroughs in high-gradient linear accelerator technology. This technology has many societal applications beyond high-energy physics and new disruptive technologies are on the horizon: for example this technology may enable faster, more effective cancer treatment using Very High Energy Electrons (VHEE).
Other application areas that students may work on include:
Compact light source developments that shrink down synchrotron-scale beamlines to a small lab enabling future researchers to make breakthroughs faster
Technology developments for future particle physics colliders for fundamental physics discovery
The development of research programs in space radiation testing of electronics or fundamental biophysics topics.
The X-LAB is the first X-band accelerator test facility in the southern hemisphere. The term “X-band” refers to the ultra-high-frequency at which the device operates: this high frequency means the accelerators are physically smaller and lighter than existing technology.
Also check out a recent popular science article in COSMOS magazine about the X-LAB programme.
The X-LAB PhD students will be embedded in a collaboration including both Australian and international universities and institutes (including Sydney and Wollongong Universities, CERN, the Canadian Light Source and the Australian Synchrotron among others), who have joined together to support the creation of a laboratory for novel accelerator research in Australia, which has the potential to drive both technological and medical innovations. The successful candidates will have the opportunity for significant international travel (primarily to Europe/UK), enhancing their PhD experience.
For more information and to apply, please contact:
