Postdoc position - Direct detection of dark matter with the DAMIC-M experiment

Missions

The DAMIC-M group at IJCLab is seeking candidates for a two year postdoctoral position starting in April or May 2025. DAMIC-M (DArk Matter In CCDs at Modane) is a direct-detection experiment with unprecedented sensitivity to light dark matter particles. It employs Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) to search for nuclear and electron recoils induced by dark matter particles in the silicon bulk of the CCDs. The experiment is currently installed at the Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane (LSM), France.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in experimental physics, preferentially in the area of particle or astroparticle physics. Previous experience with low-background detector will be positively evaluated.

This postdoctoral position is funded through the ANR grant EDIM (Exploitation of the DAMIC-M Instrument at Modane).

Activities

The successful candidate will focus on data acquisition, calibration, and data selection and analysis. The IJCLab group is responsible for the data acquisition system, which is already functioning and taking data at the LSM with the prototype detector. Full deployment and final stress tests to handle the whole CCD modules with global synchronisation will take place in 2025. Other primary tasks will be to select high quality data acquisition runs, to calibrate the CCD response and to exclude regions of the sensitive area that are defective. The staging of the detector installation will allow us to dispose of sufficient exposure by the end of the contract to be able to explore vast ranges of viable parameters for light dark matter.

Skills

The candidate should have a PhD in Particle Physics, Astrophysics or Cosmology.

The position is funded by the ANR EDIM grant for two years. The starting date is around April or May 2025.

Applications should include a CV with a summary of previous research activities and a statement of interest. Three reference letters should be sent to Xavier Bertou (bertou@ijclab.in2p3.fr), and Olivier Deligny (deligny@ijclab.in2p3.fr). For more information please contact them.

Work Context

The IJCLab (Laboratoire de physique des deux infinis Irène Joliot-Curie, https://https://www.ijclab.in2p3.fr/) is a laboratory of IN2P3 (National Institute of Nuclear Physics and Particle Physics), an institute of the CNRS, Paris-Saclay University, and Paris Cité University. The laboratory is located in Orsay (France). It is involved in major international collaborations in the fields of particle physics, nuclear physics, astroparticles and cosmology. It has in total 730 members: researchers, teacher-researchers and administrative, technical and permanent engineers.

Currently, the DAMIC-M group at IJCLab consists of two permanent researchers. A PhD student and another postdoctoral position will be part of the group in 2025. There is possibly a substantial technical staff support.