Job Description
Your responsibilities
As a Radiation Protection Physicist, you will be part of the Occupational Health & Safety and Environmental Protection (HSE) Unit, specifically the Accelerators & Sites (AS) section of the HSE Radiation Protection (RP) Group. You will join a dynamic team, working on the radiation protection aspects of the operation, and the upgrades of the four Large Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), namely ATLAS, CMS, LHCb and ALICE.
Specifically, you will:
- Perform radiation protection studies with the FLUKA Monte Carlo particle transport code, coupled to the SESAME and DORIAN codes, for the LHC Experiments; particularly, you focus on Monte Carlo simulations for residual radiation levels during interventions, and for activation zoning and radiological classification of detector components.
- Document results of studies in presentations, technical reports and journal papers, as well as present your work in international conferences/workshops.
- Integrated in the operational radiation protection team, you will be involved in operational tasks during Run 3, such as radiation measurement campaigns, and Long Shut-down 3 (LS3); thereby gain experience in the operation of particle collider experiments.
- Benchmark results of Monte Carlo simulations with experimental radiation measurements.
- Contribute to the development of the FLUKA code distributed by CERN by joining "FLUKA Code Development Support" work package led by the RP group; this will include contributing to the development of the SESAME and DORIAN codes.
Your profile
Skills:
- Knowledge of radiation/particle physics;
- Knowledge of radiation protection would be an advantage;
- Experience with Monte Carlo simulation codes for radiation transport (e.g. FLUKA, MCNP, PHITS, Geant4);
- Programming skills (Python, C++, Fortran);
- Ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams with members from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds;
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
- Spoken and written English, with a commitment to learn French.
Eligibility criteria:
- You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
- You have a professional background in Physics or Nuclear Engineering (or a related field) and have either:
- a Master's degree with 2 to 6 years of post-graduation professional experience;
- or a PhD with no more than 3 years of post-graduation professional experience.
- You have never had a CERN fellow or graduate contract before.
Additional Information
Job closing date: 14.07.2025 at 23:59 CEST.
Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.
Working hours: 40 hours per week
Target start date: 01-September-2025
This position involves:
- Work in Radiation Areas.
- Interventions in underground installations.
Job reference: HSE-RP-AS-2025-85-GRAP
Field of work: Experimental Physics
What we offer
- A monthly stipend ranging between 6287 and 6911 Swiss Francs per month (net of tax).
- Coverage by CERN's comprehensive health scheme (for yourself, your spouse and children), and membership of the CERN Pension Fund.
- Depending on your individual circumstances: installation grant; family, child and infant allowances; payment of travel expenses at the beginning and end of contract.
- 30 days of paid leave per year.
- On-the-job and formal training at CERN as well as in-house language courses for English and/or French.
About us
At CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, physicists and engineers are probing the fundamental structure of the universe. Using the world's largest and most complex scientific instruments, they study the basic constituents of matter - fundamental particles that are made to collide together at close to the speed of light. The process gives physicists clues about how particles interact, and provides insights into the fundamental laws of nature. Find out more on http://home.cern.
We are on a Quest. A Journey into discovery like no other. Bring your expertise to our unique work and develop your knowledge and skills at pace. Join world-class subject matter experts on unique projects, in a Quest for greater knowledge and deeper understanding.
Begin your CERN Quest. Take Part!
Diversity has been an integral part of CERN's mission since its foundation and is an established value of the Organization. Employing a diverse workforce is central to our success.