Postdoctoral position in accelerator physics

Are you interested in working with particle accelerator development, with the support of competent and friendly colleagues in an international environment? We welcome you to apply for a postdoc position at the FREIA laboratory at Uppsala University.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy is one of Uppsala University's largest, with more than 400 employees, of which about 125 are doctoral students. The department conducts world-class research and education in both theoretical and experimental physics and has extensive collaboration with the outside world.

The FREIA Laboratory, one of the divisions at the department, works with designing, developing and testing equipment and instruments for particle accelerators. FREIA collaborates with industrial partners as well as with research institutes and universities nationally and globally, and has strong connections to research infrastructures such as the European Spallation Source in Lund, and CERN in Switzerland.

We are currently looking for a postdoc to work with a European project in accelerator development for a large-scale neutrino physics project, the ESS neutrino Super-Beam (ESSnuSB). It is based on the use of the particle accelerator facility for the European Spallation Source (ESS), currently being built in Lund, Sweden. The main objective of the ESSnuSB project is to measure charge-parity violation in leptons by studying the asymmetry in neutrino oscillations between matter and anti-matter. To achieve this, we need to expand the accelerator complex at ESS by adding an accumulator ring, where the pulses from the ESS linac are compressed. The compressed pulses will be sent to a target where the neutrino super-beam is formed. The neutrino oscillation parameters will be studied in a large detector, located about 360 km from the source. In addition, we are working on yet another addition: a nuSTORM facility (neutrinos from stored muons), which includes a muon storage ring that would be used for generating a neutrino beam for neutrino cross section measurements. The successful candidate will be involved in the work with designing and evaluating sections of the ESSnuSB accelerator complex.

The work is organized in a European consortium with partners at, for example, ESS in Sweden, Strasbourg in France, and CERN in Switzerland.

Duties
The postdoc will together with other team members design the low-energy nuSTORM facility, which includes a pion transfer line, an injection system and a racetrack muon storage ring, and evaluate the design of the accumulator ring. The work will involve beam optics and dynamics simulations using multi-particle tracking software. It may also include assessing the technical feasibility of certain subsystems. Since the project is organized in a European consortium it will involve collaborating with other researchers in Uppsala and throughout Europe, and may require traveling to partners and accelerator facilities. Regular oral and written reporting are also part of the duties.

Requirements
PhD degree in physics or electrical engineering or a foreign degree equivalent to a PhD degree in physics or electrical engineering. The degree needs to be obtained by the time of the decision of employment. Priority will be given to applicants who have completed their degree no more than three years before the deadline for applications.  Due to special circumstances, the degree may have been obtained earlier. The three-year period can be extended due to circumstances such as sick leave, parental leave, duties in labour unions, etc.

Since the research project is organized in an international collaboration, good collaboration and communication skills are very important. Very good knowledge of English in speech and writing is also a requirement. A structured approach, initiative, and creativity are essential skills to succeed in the post. Experience in accelerator physics and design, and associated computational methods is required.

Additional qualifications
The following experiences and skills are meriting for the position

• Documented skills in using beam optics software such as MADX, BMAD, TraceWin or similar.
• Experience from multi-particle tracking software such as Xsuite, pyORBIT, ORBIT, PTC-ORBT or G4Beamline.
• Experience from accelerator operations and commissioning.
• Publications on accelerator physics in peer-reviewed journals.

About the employment
The employment is a temporary position of 2 years according to central collective agreement. Full time position. Starting date February 1, 2026, or as agreed. Placement: Uppsala

For further information about the position, please contact: Maja Olvegård, +46 72 9999 627 maja.olvegard@physics.uu.se

Ansökan

The application should include a letter describing the research interests and past experience, CV, copies of degree certificates and grades, link to PhD dissertation (or a draft thereof), and other documents that the applicant wishes to refer to. Applicants are encouraged to include contact details to reference persons and/or letters of recommendation.

Please submit your application by 7 January 2026, UFV-PA 2025/3953.