The UK’s national synchrotron science facility, Diamond Light Source, conducts world-class research in virtually all fields of science. Located 20 minutes from Oxford, it sits in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and offers rewarding career opportunities.

B16- Diamond’s Test beamline – is a highly versatile and flexible beamline catering to diverse types of experiments. The beamline works in the 4 - 45 keV X-ray energy range and supports several operational modes and experimental techniques. The primary mandate of B16 is to facilitate technical developments in optics, detectors and instrumentation. This mandate is complemented well by a range of science based experiments. Rather than specialising in a narrow science area, B16 facilitates research in diverse areas, from material science to radiation physics/biology. Experiments based on different techniques including diffraction, reflectivity, imaging and topography are performed. Many of these researches require extensive technique development and or optimisation of the experiment setup.

We are seeking a self motivated candidate to work as a support scientist / senior support scientist on this beamline. They will be required to work within the beamline team and with other staff to ensure efficient beamline operation, user support and instrument developments.

Duties

• Local contact support to users by setting up and providing advice and guidance on the best approach to experiments, data analysis and research techniques;
• Assist in the installation, assembly, and maintenance of a range of equipment and systems on the beamline and support laboratories, including testing and commissioning;
• Support of in-house research activities;
• Test samples sent to Diamond by users; including data reduction and basic reports;
• Maintenance of the beamline during operations;
• Undertake problem solving and fault diagnosis of the beamline;
• Produce reports and documentation (e.g. manuals, web-pages) to support the beamline.

Additional duties, for appointment at the higher level:  

• Develop and maintain expertise in a scientific field (e.g. X-ray optics, diffraction or imaging), and apply it to user support;
• Collaborate with users and in house scientists within area of expertise;
• Develop new instrumentation and software in collaboration with support teams to upgrade the performance of the beamline, in a self-responsible way;
• Contribute to scientific publications as part of in-house research or external research.

• Appropriate Science Degree;
• Experience in the use of scientific instrumentation;
• Experience in scientific data collection;
• Knowledge of synchrotron radiation techniques;
• Experience with Windows/Linux/Unix;
• Good interpersonal, communication and presentational skills;
• Ability to interact with staff and facility users at all levels;
• Ability and initiative to get to the heart of the problem and take it effectively through to completion;
• Ability to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team;
• Good organisational and planning skills;
• Self motivation;
• Ability to work flexibly with occasional weekend and out-of hours working;
• Must be available to travel occasionally within the UK and abroad, including overnight absences.

For appointment at the higher level, candidates should in addition have:

• Appropriate PhD and three years relevant experience;
• Experience in supporting Scientists in the conduct of research in a synchrotron or equivalent facility;
• Good background in X-ray optics or X-ray instrumentation, including X-ray detectors;
• Capability of providing full data analysis to the users.

• Experience in synchrotron radiation based research;
• Expertise in at least one of the following techniques: x-ray optics, diffraction, imaging or topography;
• Good knowledge of writing scripts in Python or equivalent language.