Accelerator Physics Summer Placement

at  Science and Technology Facilities Council STFC

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL

Salary: £20,650
Hours: Full time
Contract Type: Fixed Term for 8 weeks
Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory Harwell, Oxfordshire
Interviews: The recruitment process involves a technical interview only that will take place onsite in April 2024
Start: July 2024
OPAL is an open-source particle accelerator simulation package for modelling Fixed Field Accelerators (FFAs), Cyclotrons and linacs. In the ISIS accelerator physics group we are developing an ISIS-II prototype FFA ring known as FETS-FFA. OPAL forms a critical part of the simulation effort for this prototype ring. Work is ongoing on a Python interface for OPAL to make the code more accessible and allow the user greater flexibility with the input.
A graphical interface for placing the elements of the accelerator in PyOPAL would allow the user to more easily set up the magnetic structure of the accelerator and speed up the simulation process.
Here within our Accelerator Beams Division, we are pleased to offer the opportunity to support a summer placement student to develop a graphical user interface in Python to place the elements of a particle accelerator in an OPAL simulation.
We will help you learn about modelling an accelerator in general and there is also scope to work on the OPAL package itself if the project goes in that direction.

Within this placement, responsibilities will include:

• Development of a graphical user interface in Python
• Implementing a method for placing accelerator elements with a graphical user interface
• Understanding the simulation of accelerators with OPAL
• Working with Python wrappers for C++ programs
• Writing documentation
• Presenting results