Upgrading the CMS Hardware Trigger: A Search for New Physics with Top Quarks - STFC Studentships

This PhD focuses on the design, development, and optimisation of the upgraded CMS hardware trigger for the High-Luminosity LHC. Emphasis will be placed on implementing advanced real-time algorithms to efficiently identify top quark signatures, enabling robust performance under high pile-up and enhancing discovery potential for new physics.

 

In partnership with CERN, Rutherford Appleton Lab and University of Bristol

 

 

Eligibility

 

To be classed as a Home student, candidates must meet the following criteria and the associated residency requirements: 

• Be a UK National, or

 • Have settled status, or

 • Have pre-settled status, or 

• Have indefinite leave to remain or enter

 • Be an Irish National* *Irish Nationals eligibility is derived from the UK Ireland Common Travel Area

 

 

 

How to apply

Please send the following in one PDF document to studentships@brunel.ac.uk by 31st July 2025.

  • Applicants are expected to hold first or upper-second class honours degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage;
  • If appropriate, applicants must demonstrate English language skills to an overall score of IELTS 6.5 (minimum score of 6.0 in all sections) or equivalent;
  • All applicants are asked to submit their up-to-date CV, personal statement (300 to 500 words), degree certificates and transcripts, evidence of English language skills (if appropriate) and contact details for two referees, one of which must be academic but not from the Principal Supervisor.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

Akram Khan - Professor Akram Khan is a academic & researcher in the areas of fundamental and applied science. He has published extensively in a wide range of key academic journals. He has worked at most of the leading national laboratories in the world: DESY in Germany, CERN in Switzerland and SLAC in the USA. He read Mathematics and Theoretical Physics for his Bachelors’ degree at St Andrews University, taking his PhD in Experimental Particle Physics at University College London. Akram was a European Research Fellow at CIEMAT in Spain and at CERN in Switzerland, then a Senior Fellow at Edinburgh and Manchester Universities, going on to a faculty position at Stanford University, before joining Brunel University London in 2003. His recent research has been addressing the fundamental questions:'What is the difference between matter and anti-matter?' and 'What new exotic physics processes might help us to address the existing inadequacies of the Standard Model?' As part of his work in the field of applied science he is currently working on developing a novel particle cancer therapy machine in the UK, and on the next generation of internet technologies.'