The Vrije Universiteit Brussel group at the Interuniversity Institute for High Energies (IIHE) has an immediate opening at the level of both a postdoctoral researcher and a PhD student, to join our team on research with the CMS experiment.

The Interuniversity Institute for High Energies or IIHE in Brussels (http://w3.iihe.ac.be/) combines the experimental particle physics and astroparticle physics research groups from two Brussels universities: Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Université Libre de Bruxelles. The IIHE is currently involved in frontier research in CMS, FCC-ee, IceCube, SoLid, JUNO, Auger, milliQan, and in R&D in data acquisition systems. The working language is English.

The CMS team in Brussels consists of about 40 physicists, engineers and support staff, and combines researchers working on both experimental and phenomenological aspects of physics at the Large Hadron Collider. Within CMS, the IIHE group is leading numerous physics analyses and object reconstruction efforts. At the VUB, professors Steven Lowette, Freya Blekman and Jorgen D'Hondt are all involved in leading roles in the field.

A CMS Grid Tier2 computing center provides ample analysis resources. On the detector side, the institute was among others involved in the construction of the current CMS Silicon Strip Tracker, and we are currently preparing for phase-II upgrades in a Belgian consortium, most notably the construction of one outer tracker endcap.

For the post-doc level position, IIHE-VUB are seeking an outstanding candidate who has obtained (or is about to obtain) a PhD in experimental particle physics. A position for two years is available with some availability of extension options depending on performance, mutual agreement and profile of the applicant.

The doctoral student position is meant to lead to a PhD in experimental particle physics within four years, and is open to candidates that hold (or are about to receive with a defined date) a Masters degree in physics (or equivalent).

The successful candidates will be expected to prepare for a leading contribution in the LHC Run-II data analysis and future preparations in one of the active fields in the lab: top physics including searches using top quarks, dark matter, etc. She or he will profit from being embedded in a large Belgian network of experimental as well as phenomenological particle physics research (be-h.be <http://be-h.be>). On the detector side, contributions are expected to the phase-II upgrade activities around the outer tracker construction. The positions are based in Brussels, with regular travel possible to attend collaboration meetings, workshops, schools, and conferences.

The positions are open to candidates of any nationality. The review of applications will continue until the position is filled.

Applicants should send their curriculum vitae, a separate list of publications indicating their personal contributions (for the post-doc position), a statement of research interests, and a list of references, all in one pdf file, to Prof. Lowette (steven.lowette@vub.be <mailto:steven.lowette@vub.be>) and Prof. Blekman (freya.blekman@vub.be<mailto:freya.blekman@vub.be>). At least three references should be listed for the post-doc position, and two for the student position.

For more information, please take contact via the email addresses above.