The Imperial College Physics department has two postgraduate studentships available starting in October 2024, to develop new computing paradigms for physics applications.

The studentships are within the Physics Department Centre for Doctoral Training in Data Intensive Science and supported by the ICICLE (Imperial College Intel Corporation Lenovo) collaboration, designed to nurture the next generation of HPC and AI researchers, promote diversity and advance life-changing discoveries building on sustainable technology upgrades.

Future physics experiments, for example in particle physics and astronomy, will generate unprecedented quantities of data which must be processed and analyzed efficiently, demanding new approaches to computation to fully achieve their potential. Within two studentships we aim to develop and test new techniques in the areas of ultra-fast machine learning and quantum computing, respectively.

Machine learning provides well-established, sophisticated algorithms to analyze scientific data. Future generations of scientific instruments will produce data at such vast rates that inference on the detector instruments themselves, running on state-of-the-art hardware will be required. The student will contribute to the development of ultra-fast machine learning algorithms in the areas of data processing and/or simulation of physics processes.

Quantum computing is a fast developing field which is revolutionizing computer science. Physics stands to benefit from these developments but the development of physics applications is of crucial importance. The student will contribute to the development of quantum algorithms in the areas of data processing and/or simulation of physics processes.

Applicants should have an undergraduate physics degree and a strong interest in computer science, or vice-versa. Strong programming and mathematical skills will be advantageous.

The studentships cover a maintenance bursary, similar to standard UKRI studentships, and fees. It is possible that students will have the opportunity to spend extended periods at other locations, for example CERN, for which travel and accommodation costs will be paid.

Contacts:
Prof David Colling (d.colling@imperial.ac.uk)
Prof Carlo Contaldi (c.contaldi@imperial.ac.uk)
Prof Andrew Jaffe (a.jaffe@imperial.ac.uk)