55756: Particle Physicist (f/m/x) - Cosmic-ray tomography for scanning of trucks and shipping containers within the project SilentBorder

Area of research:

Scientific / postdoctoral posts

Job description:

The safety and security of critical infrastructures is an essential foundation for the economic prosperity and stability of governments and societies. The Institute for the Protection of Maritime Infrastructures focuses on this challenge and develops new concepts, approaches and technologies that may be used to analyse and enhance the safety and security of maritime infrastructures regarding people, technologies and systems.

One focus of the institute is muon tomography, which represents an innovative and promising new approach for imaging three-dimensional volumes. As a member of the H2020 funded SilentBorder project, the institute will contribute to the development of a tomographic scanning technology for trucks and sea containers based on the natural flux of highly energetic atmospheric muons, produced as a result of the interaction of cosmic radiation with the air molecules. Within SilentBorder a prototype system will be constructed. Tomographic algorithms will also be developed and combined with state-of-the-art machine learning techniques, to develop a fully automated threat detection system which is safe for use in the presence of humans.

As a member of our international team at the Department of Maritime Security Technologies your work focuses on the development of tomographic algorithms to assess the potential benefit of the inclusion of secondary particles in the analysis chain of the SilentBorder tomography system. Secondary particles in this context refer to gamma-rays and neutrons produced during muon absorption and capture processes as well as interactions of neutrons with the cargo. In addition, measurements will be made using the prototype system, which will be located in Estonia, and data analysis performed to characterise the system in collaboration with the project partners.

In this position you will

• develop state-of-the-art data-analysis methods from the field of particle physics which can be used to identify and select secondary particles over background processes in the detector and are able to provide information for the discrimination of different container contents
• test and validate methods developed using Monte-Carlo data and measurement data from the prototype system
• take data in the laboratory in Estonia related to system characterisation using the prototype in cooperation with project partners and analyse these data
• publish research results at a national and international level
• (co-)supervise student theses and internships in the context of the SilentBorder project

This research center is part of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers. With more than 42,000 employees and an annual budget of over € 5 billion, the Helmholtz Association is Germany's largest scientific organisation.