PhD in Physics

PhD Studentship on the NOvA Experiment (2025)

What you get

• Fully-paid tuition fees for three and a half years.
• A tax-free bursary for living costs for three and a half years (£19,237 per annum in 24/25).
• Additional financial support is provided to cover short-term and long-term
  travel.
• If you are not a UK national, nor an EU national with UK settled/pre-settled
  status, you will need to apply for a student study visa before admission.

Type of award

Postgraduate Research

PhD project

Applications are invited from talented and creative students for a PhD place in Experimental Particle Physics, to join the Sussex group working on the NOvA experiment under the supervision of Dr Lily Asquith.

The NOvA experiment uses the world’s most powerful neutrino beam provided by Fermilab in Chicago, USA to measure the oscillation of muon-type to electron-type neutrinos using a pair of detectors separated by 800 km. NOvA will continue with more than a decade of data-taking until around 2027, and so is entering the most important era in terms of data analysis, and exploitation of the huge final data set will require creative thinking in addition to the development of machine learning techniques and novel approaches to the treatment of systematic uncertainties. The Sussex NOvA group comprises two faculty, two postdocs, and three PhD students. We hold and are leading the effort to use thousands of “test beam” particles to improve the measurements of the oscillation parameters, including the Charge-Parity violation parameter that could reveal the secret of our matter-dominated universe.

Eligibility

Applicants must hold, or expect to hold, at least a UK upper second-class degree (or non-UK equivalent qualification) in Physics or a closely-related area, or else a lower second-class degree followed by a relevant Master's degree.

This award is open to UK and International students.

Deadline

28 February 2025 23:45

How to apply

Apply through the University of Sussex on-line system. 

https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/phd/apply/log-into-account

Select the PhD in Physics/Mathematics, with an entry date of September 2025.

In the Finance & Fees section, state that you wish to be considered for studentship no EPP/2025/05.

Due to the high volume of applications received, you may only hear from us if your application is successful.

Contact us

If you have practical questions about the progress of your on-line application or your eligibility, contact mps-pgrsupport@sussex.ac.uk.

For academic questions about the project, contact Dr Lily Asquith at L.Asquith@sussex.ac.uk.

Timetable

Deadline - 28th February 2025.

Due to the high volume of applications received, you may only hear from us if your application is successful.