Job Description

Your responsibilities

Are you passionate about experimental physics and eager to contribute to both scientific outreach and beamline development? We are looking for a Beamline for Schools & Beamline Development Scientist to join CERN’s Experimental Areas (EA) Group within the Beams (BE) Department.
This position combines hands-on work with supporting the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition while also contributing to beamline development, detector systems, and simulations in the BE-EA-LE section.

As a BL4S & Beamline Development Scientist, you will play a dual role, supporting BL4S experiments while also working on beamline development and simulations in the BE-EA-LE section.
Your responsibilities will include:

BL4S Experiment Support (50% of the time):
As a BL4S competition experiment support scientist you will work closely with the Education team in the Education, Communication and Outreach (ECO) group in the International Relations (IR) sector.
Your activities will include:

• Assist winning teams of the Beamline for Schools competition in planning, preparing, and executing their experiments.
• Train students on-site on detector systems, beamline operations, and data analysis techniques.
• Develop and maintain data acquisition systems (DAQ) for BL4S experiments.
• Calibrate and integrate detectors, ensuring their compatibility with BL4S software frameworks.
• Guide students through data analysis and interpretation, supporting them in publishing results.
• Participate in the selection process for the BL4S competition and provide technical support to teams preparing proposals.

Beamline Development & Simulations (50% of the time):

• Conduct beamline simulations using BDSIM/GEANT4 to optimize the beams delivered to the experimental setups.
• Support the development of upgrades for the East Area and North Area beamlines.
• Collaborate with physicists, engineers, and technical staff on beamline infrastructure and experimental setups.

Your profile

Skills

• Strong background in particle physics, detector systems, and data acquisition.
• Experience in simulating beamlines (e.g., using BDSIM/GEANT4).
• Proficiency in software development (e.g., C++, Python, ROOT) for data analysis and experiment control.
• Passion for outreach and education, with experience in mentoring or teaching considered a plus.
• Strong teamwork and communication skills to collaborate with CERN staff, students, and external partners.
• Fluent in English, the ability to work in French would be an advantage.

Eligibility criteria:

• You are a national of a CERN Member or Associate Member State.
• You have a professional background in Applied Physicist (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: 07.05.2025 at 23:59h (midnight) CEST.

Contract duration: 24 months, with a possible extension up to 36 months maximum.

Target start date: 01-June-2025

This position involves:

• Work during nights, Sundays and official holidays, when required by the needs of the Organization.

Job reference: BE-EA-LE-2025-46-GRAP

Field of work: Applied 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.