PhD Opportunities in Data Analysis in Running Neutrino Experiments – JUNO, SBND, and T2K

About the Project

Open questions in neutrino physics include the neutrino mass ordering and CP violation, and discoveries in future experiments will rely on a precise understanding of neutrino interactions across different targets and energy regimes. While promising new facilities are under construction, existing and newly running experiments provide critical stepping stones in this transitional era, offering the data needed to sharpen our understanding and guide the next generation of discoveries. Some of these open questions could be solved within this timeframe: JUNO is expected to determine the neutrino mass ordering with high significance, T2K will provide stronger indications on CP violation, and SBND will deliver much-improved measurements of neutrino–argon interactions. We offer three PhD projects in these experiments, giving students the opportunity to contribute directly to these forefront developments.

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is a 20-kiloton liquid scintillator detector in southern China, which began taking data on 26 August 2025. Its central detector is instrumented with nearly 18,000 20-inch photomultiplier tubes, providing ~75% optical coverage, complemented by ~25,000 3-inch PMTs for enhanced granularity and timing. With an energy resolution of 3% at 1 MeV and unprecedented statistics, JUNO’s primary goal is to determine the neutrino mass ordering using reactor antineutrinos. Beyond this, JUNO’s large target mass and excellent performance make it uniquely sensitive to atmospheric neutrinos and beyond the Standard Model (BSM) physics. It therefore provides timely opportunities for discovery at the frontier of particle physics and astrophysics.

The Short-Baseline Near Detector (SBND) is a 112-ton liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) at Fermilab, only 110 m from the Booster Neutrino Beam target. It is part of the three-detector Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) program, designed to perform precision studies of neutrino–argon interactions at ~1 GeV and to search for light sterile neutrinos. SBND’s high-resolution readout, excellent light detection system, and full 3D reconstruction capability make it a powerful tool for studying final states—including hadronic energy flow, pion and proton multiplicities, and nuclear effects such as final-state interactions. As the most statistically intense neutrino–argon dataset to date, SBND will provide critical input to neutrino interaction modelling for future LArTPC experiments such as DUNE.

T2K (Tokai to Kamioka) is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment in Japan, using a 295 km baseline between the J-PARC accelerator and the Super-Kamiokande detector. A high-intensity off-axis muon neutrino (or antineutrino) beam is measured at near detectors before reaching Super-Kamiokande, a 50-kiloton water Cherenkov detector. T2K was the first experiment to observe electron neutrino appearance in a muon neutrino beam and continues to make world-leading measurements of neutrino mixing parameters, including the CP-violating phase δ. T2K also provides high-quality neutrino interaction data on oxygen and hydrocarbon in the sub-GeV to GeV range. Recent upgrades aim to significantly enhance its sensitivity ahead of the Hyper-Kamiokande era.

The three PhD projects will focus on analysing real experimental data from JUNO, SBND, and T2K, developing and applying state-of-the-art techniques in event reconstruction and physics analysis to deepen our understanding of neutrino–nucleus interactions, accelerator and atmospheric neutrino oscillations, and BSM physics. The work will involve:

• Developing reconstruction and analysis algorithms;
• Quantifying cross-section uncertainties relevant to oscillation physics;
• Developing neutrino oscillation analysis frameworks.

The successful candidates will join the Elementary Particle Physics (EPP) group at Warwick, one of the UK’s most active university groups in neutrino physics and precision measurements. Warwick is active across a host of international neutrino projects including DUNE, Hyper-K, JUNO, SBN, Super-K, T2K, ultra-low background projects for dark matter and neutrinoless double-beta searches and accelerator muon experiments. With a vibrant community of postgraduates and postdocs, and strong technical support through modern detector development and electronics labs. Particle physics is a strategic priority at Warwick, backed by institutional support and embedded in national and international collaborations.

We welcome applications from Chinese candidates eligible for the China Scholarship Council (CSC) – University of Warwick Joint Scholarship Scheme. Full details of the scheme, including eligibility and application instructions, can be found here:

https://warwick.ac.uk/services/dc/schols_fund/scholarships_and_funding/csc/

The PhD projects are expected to start on 1 October 2026 and will run for 48 months. The successful candidates will be based at Warwick, with opportunities to visit other UK institutes and to travel frequently to China, Japan, and the US for collaboration meetings, data analysis, experimental operations and data-taking.

About the University

Born in the 60s with a mindset of boldness, imagination and collaboration, the University of Warwick is a world-leading research-intensive university with the highest academic and research standards. We’re one of the world’s top universities, ranked 67th in the world and 10th in the UK*, with 92% of our research assessed to be ‘world leading or internationally excellent’**.

You'll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress. Here at Warwick, we offer you opportunities to follow your ambitions as long as you bring the energy and determination to succeed.

*QS World University Rankings 2024

** Research Excellence Framework 2021

To find out more about us visit our website:

https://warwick.ac.uk/about/

How to Apply

Please visit the University of Warwick’s postgraduate admissions website to apply:

https://warwick.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/

For informal enquiries please contact:

Prof. Steve Boyd (S.B.Boyd@warwick.ac.uk),

Dr. Xianguo Lu (xianguo.lu@warwick.ac.uk)

Dr. John Marshall (John.Marshall@warwick.ac.uk).