Missions

The successful candidate will be responsible for defining, designing, producing and monitoring the manufacturing and test of the electronic system developed in the framework of the PGTI (Prompt Gamma Time Imaging) project.
The PGTI project, funded by the European Community (ERC grant n.101040381), aims at the development of a gamma ray detection system based on the fast (less than 100 ps RMS) measurement of particle time-of-flight and dedicated to the real-time monitoring of proton therapy cancer treatments. Proton therapy is an innovative radiotherapy modality that exploits the high ballistic precision of protons to improve the efficacy and tolerance of treatments, while reducing the irradiation of the healthy tissues surrounding the tumour. The performances of this technique, however, are currently limited by different sources of uncertainty. The detector we are developing will eventually make it possible to measure the protons' path within the patient in real time to fully exploit the potential of the technique. The system will consist of a set of small (~1 cm3), ultra-fast block detectors mounted on a rigid support surrounding the patient. Each block detector will consist of a monolithic Cherenkov radiator read by 4 silicon photomultipliers. In this multidisciplinary project, physicists, engineers, mathematicians and clinical medical physicists from three French institutes (two CNRS laboratories, the LPSC and the CPPM, and the Nice proton therapy centre) will contribute to the development and test of the detector and to the conception of a dedicated image reconstruction algorithm.
The engineer will be involved in the design of digital acquisition systems requiring the development of dedicated FPGA firmware (including digital signal processing) and acquisition software (Qt/C++). After designing the read-out electronics for the experiment, she/he will proceed to its validation through experimental tests on the bench and at external facilities such as the Antoine Lacassagne Center in Nice (partner of the PGTI project) and/or other light ion accelerators in Europe.
In addition to the expertise in electronic design, the engineer will also determine the best signal processing methods to achieve the required performance and she/he will implement them either in the firmware or in the software.

Activités

•Establish the electronic specifications in collaboration with physicists and engineers involved in the project
•Define the electronics architecture and select the relevant technologies
•Draw the schematics, simulate the designs
•Define PCB routing rules and supervise the CAD layout
•Develop firmware for programmable logic devices
•Develop readout and control software for the custom designed hardware
•Establish and execute the relevant test procedures, at the lab and at the proton therapy facilities
•Write technical documentations and user manuals

Compétences

•Excellent knowledge of digital electronics (FPGA, DSP, …)
•Ability to design electronics schematics and to handle the project from the specifications to the acceptance tests
•Knowledge of digital signal processing (design and simulate a processing method)
•Advanced knowledge of VHDL, C, C++ and python
•Knowledge of EMI/RFI mitigation techniques
•Knowledge of several instrumentation standard, interconnection standard, and in particular Ethernet, PCI express and how to handle them with an FPGA
•Ability to present the work in collaboration meetings or international conferences
•Ability to negotiate and establish specifications with end-users.

Contexte de travail

The LPSC (Subatomic Physics and Cosmology Laboratory) in Grenoble, France (http://lpsc.in2p3.fr) is a joint teaching and research unit, affiliated to the French Nuclear and Particle Physics Institute (IN2P3), the Grenoble-Alpes University (UGA) and the Grenoble Engineering and Management Institute (INP). On average, the laboratory hosts around 230 employees among researchers, technical staff and students.
The successful candidate will be attached to the electronic department and will carry out her/his activities under the supervision of the department head and the PGTI project manager. She/he will work in close collaboration with the “nuclear physics and medical applications” team and the “detector and instrumentation” department at LPSC.
The engineer will occasionally participate in project meetings outside the labs (mainly in France) and experimental sessions at external facilities.

Le poste se situe dans un secteur relevant de la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique (PPST), et nécessite donc, conformément à la réglementation, que votre arrivée soit autorisée par l'autorité compétente du MESR.

Contraintes et risques

Possibility of occasional travel during weekends and public holidays. Dosimetric monitoring to ensure the access to proton therapy centers to carry out the experimental campaigns.