Associate Senior University Lecturer in Physics with specialisation in Experimental Particle Physics - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

The Division of Particle Physics (https://particlephysics.physics.lu.se/) is a part of the Department of Physics with 9 senior researchers and a total of around 30 employees. Particle physics studies the fundamental building blocks of matter and the forces between them. Experimental exploration requires accelerators with the  highest possible energy, and the most powerful is LHC at CERN. The Division of Particle Physics has  its main activities at LHC and conducts various research projects with data from two experiments, ALICE and ATLAS. The research focuses partly on searching for signs of physics that cannot be described with today's knowledge (the Standard Model), and partly to understand the properties of strongly interacting matter where protons and neutrons have melted into a liquid of quarks and gluons, the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP). In addition, the division is involved in the planning and construction of LDMX, where LDMX stands for “Light Dark Matter eXperiment”. LDMX is a smaller experiment that is optimized for the discovery of light dark matter. This position is initially focused on hardware activities within the ATLAS and LDMX experiments

The research environment also includes the department of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy with its world-leading centre for phenomenological particle physics.

In the longer time perspective, the European Spallation Source (ESS) becomes operational in Lund. This opens possibilities for particle physics experiments with neutrons and neutrinos.

Type of employment: Limit of tenure, 6 years, with the opportunity to promotion to senior lecturer.

Job description
Employment as Associate Senior Lecture is a career development position, where the holder is to be given the opportunity to develop his or her independence as a researcher and educator.

The work tasks are primarily research and teaching on basic and graduate levels, with at least 75 % research. The proportion between teaching and research can change over time and other duties can be included.

The successful applicant's main research task is to take a leading role and further develop the division's activities in instrumentation. It includes: development and construction of calorimeters to veto neutral particles in the LDMX experiment with special focus on the reading out of the scintillator light; development of so-called Silicon-strip modules and manufacture of these within a Scandinavian collaboration for the upgrade of the ATLAS experiment's tracking detector; and start-up of generic instrumentation research. During the first three years, we expect the applicant to be mostly active in the LDMX and ATLAS projects, which also includes setting up the laboratory and educating students. During the next three years, more time should be spent on generic (instrumentation) research.

The education at the Physics department comprises physics courses on all levels, as well as supervision of Bachelor, Master and PhD students. Teaching duties in the position will be within the education program of the physics department both at the basic level and / or advanced level, and is expected to correspond to approximately 10% of the working time. Teaching in more specialized areas at postgraduate level may also be relevant. Recruitment and supervision of bachelor's and master's students and doctoral students are part of the job.

The successful applicant is expected to apply for and attain external research grants.

General Eligibility
A person who holds a doctorate, or a qualification equivalent to a doctorate, shall be qualified for appointment as an Associate Senior Lecturer. Priority should be given to candidates who have completed their degree no more than 5 years before the application closing date. A person who has obtained a PhD or the equivalent expertise earlier may be eligible if there are special grounds

This position requires a doctoral degree in physics with a focus on experimental particle physics.

For employment as a teacher at Lund University, the general eligibility requirement is to be suitable for and have the abilities needed to fulfill the tasks well.

Basis of Assessment
The main selection criteria for the position are scientific and pedagogic skills, with an emphasis on scientific skills.

When assessing the scientific skills, these are requirements:

• Doctoral degree in physics with a focus on experimental particle physics (must be documented).
• Research experience relevant to the position e.g. postdoctoral stays.
• Solid practical experience in hardware for particle detectors.
• Experience and proficiency in computer programming and Linux-based systems.
• Experience from international research collaborations.
• Very good knowledge of English with good communication skills.

It is an advantage if the applicant also has experience of

• Successful development of semiconductor detectors for tracking detectors in particle physics experiments.
• Successful data analysis in experimental particle physics.
• Supervision of advanced-level students.

Experience in planning, developing, and carrying out teaching is an advantage and the applicant's suitability as a future teacher is included in the assessment.

Particular emphasis will be placed on the relevance of the applicant's formulated research plan for the planned projects as well as the applicant's potential to develop and carry out innovative research in instrumentation.

Personal abilities that are of great importance for the evaluation of pedagogic and scientific skills are:

• Communication and cooperation skills.
• Initiative and independence.
• Leadership
• Interest and ability for teaching.
• Interest and ability for outreach to the general public.

It is important that the application is written in such a way that the described skills are either documented or easily validated.

The position holder may have to spend a non-negligible fraction of the research time at laboratories abroad.

Knowledge of Swedish is not a requirement at the time of employment. It is however expected that any non-Swedish speaking appointee within a three-year period will master the Swedish language well enough to be able to teach and to communicate with the university administration in Swedish.

When making the appointment, consideration will be given to the Lund University Appointment Rules.

Promotion
An associate senior lecturer is to be promoted, on application, to employment as a senior lecturer on an indefinite-term contract if he or she has the qualifications required for the post and is assessed to be suitable in accordance with the qualification requirements and assessment criteria established by the Faculty of Science. An associate senior lecturer may only apply for promotion once.

Qualification requirements and assessment criteria for promotion to a permanent position as senior lecturer:

• Well documented research expertise is important for the discipline. The following criteria will be applied:

           - High national and international standing as a researcher 
           - High-quality publications in international research journals.
           - Independent research profile.
           - Qualifications corresponding to those of a reader.
           - Participation in scholarly conferences or workshops.
           - Research funding from national or international funding bodies.

• Well documented teaching expertise. The following criteria will be applied:

           - Good subject knowledge and documented experience of teaching at different levels of higher education.
           - Documented ability to develop and renew courses and teaching methods.
           - Documented ability to lead and organise education.
           - Documented ability to supervise Master´s and PhD students.
           - Five weeks´training in teaching and learning in higher education or the equivalent.

• An ability to interact with wider society and provide public information on current research and development.
  
  
• An ability to work as a leader in higher education, including leading research projects and participating in decision-making bodies at university, faculty or department level.

An application for promotion to a permanent position as Senior Lecturer is to be submitted to the faculty at the latest 6 months before the appointment as Associate Senior Lecturer ends. The application for promotion is to be judged by the teacher’s appointment board after acquisition of the opinion of at least two experts on the subject.

Design and content of the application
We would recommend you to write your application in English, since it will be assessed by international experts. The application should be formulated according to the Faculty of Science’s instructions for applications for an academic position.