PhD Position: Experimental Particle Physics on the ATLAS Experiment

1. Introduction

Are you fascinated by the mysteries of the so-called ghost particle neutrino? What is its nature, a conventional Dirac fermion or a Majorana particle? Do you enjoy collaborating and would you like to analyse data measured by a 7,000-tonne detector in the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider? We look forward to your application! 

2. Job description

As a PhD candidate, you will conduct fundamental research in experimental particle physics, perform data analysis and develop object reconstruction algorithms in the ATLAS experiment. You will become a member of the ATLAS collaboration and will be based in Nijmegen. Furthermore, you will be given the opportunity to spend 10-12 months at CERN in Geneva. Your project will be supervised by Dr Mengqing Wu (Radboud University).

This position is part of a research project called ’Are neutrinos Majorana?’, which is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The main goal of this project is to search for Majorana neutrinos in the uncovered tau channel at the highest possible masses in the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The project will be conducted in close collaboration with our Nikhef colleagues in Amsterdam.

Your appointment will be for a fixed period of four years, starting in January 2026 or soon thereafter. It includes funding for a short secondment to CERN and travelling to international conferences. Your duties as a teaching assistant cover about 10 percent of your work time, spread over the course of the appointment.

Would you like to learn more about what it’s like to pursue a PhD at Radboud University? Visit the page about working as a PhD candidate. 

3. Profile

• You hold a Master's degree in physics with experience in experimental subatomic physics. (This can be demonstrated, for example, by Master’s thesis topics or by successfully having completed relevant courses.) Or you expect to obtain your Master’s degree around the starting date of the appointment.
• You are curious, communicative, critical, enthusiastic, proactive and excited to learn about new developments in experimental physics. 
• You have a strong interest in and affinity for programming and preferably experience with C++ and/or Python. 
• You are able to work in a team as well as independently. 
• You have excellent writing and verbal communication skills in English.

4. We are

You will join Dr Mengqing Wu’s research group, consisting of one PhD candidate and two postdoctoral researchers. The group makes strong contributions to exotic physics searches at ATLAS, as well as to detector research and development varying from projects on semiconductor detectors like the ATLAS HGTD project to data acquisition projects like the ATLAS FELIX project.

The group is embedded in the High-Energy Physics Department at the Institute for Mathematics, Astrophysics and Particle Physics (IMAPP) at Radboud University (Nijmegen, Netherlands). Currently, it is home to 17 PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers.

Research at the department covers a broad range of topics, including theoretical and experimental particle physics, gravitational waves and quantum gravity. Research seminars and informal events foster a vibrant and friendly work atmosphere.

The position also offers you ample opportunities to collaborate and establish connections with particle physicists at Nikhef, the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics, of which Radboud University is one of the founding partners.

5. We offer

• We will give you a temporary employment contract (1.0 FTE) of 1.5 years, after which your performance will be evaluated. If the evaluation is positive, your contract will be extended by 2.5 years (4-year contract).
• You will receive a starting salary of €3,059 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, which will increase to €3,881 in the fourth year (salary scale P).
• You will receive an 8% holiday allowance and an 8,3% end-of-year bonus. 
• We offer Dual Career Coaching. The Dual Career Coaching assists your partner via support, tools, and resources to improve their chances of independently finding employment in the Netherlands. 
• You will receive extra days off. With full-time employment, you can choose between 30 or 41 days of annual leave instead of the statutory 20. 

6. Practical information and applying

You can apply only via the button below. Address your letter of application to Mengqing Wu. In the application form, you will find which documents you need to include with your application. 

The first interviews will take place on 7 November 2025. Any second interview will take place on 5 December 2025. You will preferably start your employment on 1 January 2026.

We can imagine you're curious about our application procedure. It describes what you can expect during the application procedure and how we handle your personal data and internal and external candidates.