Two experimental PhD positions are available on a new project “Creating Ultra-Cold Molecules by Sympathetic Cooling” at the Department of Physics and Astronomy at University College London (UCL). The research will involve the cooling of optical Stark decelerated molecules to microkelvin temperatures by using thermalising collisions between cold decelerated molecules and laser cooled atomic species within an optical trap. The research will be conducted in close collaboration with members of the Cold Molecules (Prof Peter Barker) and Laser Cooling (Dr Ferruccio Renzoni) groups within the Department, as well as with the Atomic, Molecular and Astrophysics Theory (Prof Jonathan Tennyson) group.

We are seeking highly motivated candidates with research interests in atomic, molecular and optical physics/chemistry. These positions are available to UK and EU candidates and are available until October 2008. Further information on this project and cold molecule research at UCL can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/phys/amopp/studentships/Barker2008/ or by contacting Professor Peter Barker (p.barker@ucl.ac.uk).

Deadline: October 2008