Analysing data from the ALICE Experiment at the CERN LHC

About the Project

ALICE (A Large Ion Collider Experiment) is a general-purpose, heavy-ion detector at the CERN LHC which focuses on QCD, the strong-interaction sector of the Standard Model. It is designed to study the physics of strongly interacting matter and the quark-gluon plasma (a state of defined quarks, anti-quarks, and gluons which would have existing up to about 10 microseconds after the Big Bang) at extreme values of energy density and temperature in nucleus-nucleus collisions. Besides running with Pb ions, the physics programme includes collisions with lighter ions, lower energy running and dedicated proton-nucleus runs. ALICE will also take data with proton beams at the top LHC energy to collect reference data for the heavy-ion programme and to address several QCD topics for which ALICE is complementary to the other LHC detectors.

The University of Birmingham is a founding member of ALICE and is represented on the international Manage Board of the collaboration. We are responsible for the trigger electronics of ALICE and play lead roles in a number of physics topics, include strange particle production and heavy flavour physics. We are looking for a PhD to work with us on data analysis from ALICE, starting in September 2026. We are looking for a student with a first class degree in physics who has completed some undergraduate modules in particle physics. Due to our funding, we can only accept UK students. Students will also have the opportunity to spend a year at CERN during their studentship.

Please contact Professor David Evans (de@hep.ph.bham.ac.uk) for further information.

Funding Notes

The successful student will be funded by STFC and will receive a tax-free stipend of £21,805 per year.