Postdoctoral Researcher in Astroparticle Physics on the HERON project (M/F)

Organisation/Company CNRS Department Laboratoire Physique Nucléaire et Hautes Energies Research Field Physics Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Application Deadline 2 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (UTC) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Dec 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - ERC Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Within the Nuclear and High-Energy Physics Laboratory, you will be responsible for developing, testing, deploying at the experimental site and, finally, validating the operation of the first autonomous HERON units. The deployment of the first 15 units at the experimental site in the province of San Juan (Argentina) is scheduled for the second half of 2028.

As a postdoctoral researcher, your activities – which will be highly technical and experimental in nature – will include the following:

• Functional testing and sensitivity measurement of HERON antennas (the active part of the detector)
• Development, testing and validation of the data acquisition chain, and more specifically of methods for the autonomous triggering of antenna data acquisition.
• Development of methods for calibrating the time and amplitude responses of the autonomous antennas.
• Development and validation of methods for reconstructing atmospheric shower parameters.

The LPNHE is a joint research unit (CNRS, Sorbonne University and Paris Cité) comprising 160 staff, whose research is predominantly experimental in the fields of particle physics and astroparticle physics.
The LPNHE is responsible for the construction of the HERON autonomous antennas. The aim is to deploy, by 2031, a hybrid radio network comprising 24 phased-array stations and 360 autonomous antennas.
Within the LPNHE team, comprising 3 researchers, 2 PhD students and 5 engineers, the work will also be carried out in close collaboration with the HERON team at the IAP.
The main place of work is at the Jussieu site (5th arrondissement, Paris).
Travel to the Nançay Radio Observatory, the HERON experimental site (Argentina) and partner laboratories (in particular Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and Penn State, USA) is to be expected.

You must hold a PhD or equivalent qualification and have expertise in experimental high-energy physics.
You have a strong interest in the development and optimisation of detection techniques; experience of working on test benches and at experimental sites will be a key selection criterion.
Expertise in the radio detection of atmospheric showers would be an advantage, but is not a requirement.

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