Ultracold Atom News

In a major joint venture, the Schools of Physics and Astronomy at the Universities of Birmingham and Nottingham are recruiting six new permanent academics in experimental cold atom physics to set up the Midlands Ultracold Atom Research Centre. This is a new interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence for research at the interface between cold atom, condensed matter, and optical physics. The first stage is to appoint two Professors to lead the Birmingham and Nottingham sides of the group. The Professors will strongly influence the subsequent appointment of the four Lecturers (two at each partner University) and lead the development of the Centre. Funded by an EPSRC/HEFCE Science and Innovation Award, the Centre will build on, and integrate with, our large established programmes in condensed matter physics, nanoscience, and cold atom/condensed matter theory - thus producing a step change in the UK's capacity for research innovation across these fields. Scientists are required with a proven track record for internationally-leading research in areas of experimental cold atom physics including, but not limited to, atom chips, atom-surface interactions, optical lattices, single atom detection, atom interferometry, Fermi gases and Bose-Einstein condensates, few-body cold quantum systems. The complementary foci will be on optical lattices or pure condensates in Birmingham and chip-based cold atom systems in Nottingham. In addition to a substantial start-up package for equipment, laboratory refurbishment, postdoctoral and technical support, PhD studentships, travel, and an international Visitor Programme, the successful candidates will be supported by state-of-the-art nanofabrication and tera-scale supercomputing facilities and benefit from a substantially reduced teaching load for the first five years.