Postdoctoral research associate position on Experimental Astroparticle Physics (Data Analysis, Calibration) at IBS (Institute for Basic Science), Korea

The center for underground physics (CUP, https://cupweb.ibs.re.kr) at IBS in Korea invites applications for a Postdoctoral research associate position to work on the project "Direct and indirect detection searches of sub-GeV dark matter signal in the Super-Kamiokande and future Water Cherenkov Detectors" (FY 2021~2026), funded with Young Scientist Fellowship program in IBS. The position is full-time for an initial one-year and extendable up to three-year. The annual salary will be at least 49M KRW (roughly 42k USD) depending on skills and experience of the applicant. Candidates should have a Ph.D. in the past 5 years. Programming skills and good communication skills in English are necessary. Experiences with low-energy neutrino experiment, statistical methods, data analysis and Monte Carlo simulations, particularly experiences with the ROOT and GEANT4, will be advantageous. Applicants from underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.

Super-Kamiokande (SK) is the world-largest (50kton total volume) Water Cherenkov Detector built in Kamioka, Japan. It has been leading a wide range of physics over 20 years, including Nobel Prize awarded discovery of atmospheric neutrino oscillation and the most stringent limit on dark matter-nucleon scattering for dark matter masses below 100GeV. Recently, rare earth element gadolinium has been introduced into the SK, starting a new period of observations (SK-Gd).

Our group is particularly interested in using the SK experiment to search for sub-GeV dark matter signal, via dark matter-electron and dark matter-nucleus scattering, as well as neutrino flux produced in dark matter annihilation. With its huge volume, SK is expected to lead sub-GeV rare signal searches. Reconstruction of sub-GeV dark matter-nucleus scattering signal and mitigation of backgrounds is important.

A Successful candidate is expected to take a leading role in the development and subsequent application of analysis methods to various dark matter searches. The candidate will also contribute to calibration and R&D efforts for SK and future Water Cherenkov Detectors. Frequent travels to ICRR’s Kamioka Observatory is foreseen (after pandemic).

The expected employment date is April 16, 2021.

Applicants should send a CV, a brief research statement, a list of publications, and two letters of recommendation to Mr. Ma-Young Kim (mykim@ibs.re.kr). Any questions or inquires for the position shall be asked to Dr. Koun Choi (kounchoi@hawaii.edu).

For the full consideration, the application and letters should be submitted by February 28, 2021 while the application is opened until the positions are filled.