Research

My research revolves around rare-events searches, including for the elusive dark matter that may make up the bulk of the matter in the universe (previously, the EDELWEISS, CRESST, SuperCDMS, and NEWS-G experiments; now DEAP/DarkSide/Argo, located in part at SNOLAB, one of the deepest and cleanest labs in the world), and for classical processes like in the KDK (potassium decay) experiment. I am also interested in instrumentation at cryogenic and other temperatures.

Selected publications (full list and statistics at Google Scholar):

Rare ⁴⁰K Decay with Implications for Fundamental Physics and Geochronology, Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 052503 (2023)
Ultraviolet-induced fluorescence of poly (methyl methacrylate) compared to 1, 1, 4, 4-tetraphenyl-1, 3-butadiene down to 4 K, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A 1039, 167119 (2022)
A novel experimental system for the KDK measurement of the 40K decay scheme relevant for rare event searches, Nucl. Instr. Meth. A 1012, 165593 (2021)
Results from the super cryogenic dark matter search experiment at Soudan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 061802 (2018)
Search for Low-Mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles Using Voltage-Assisted Calorimetric Ionization Detection in the SuperCDMS Experiment, Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 041302 (2014)
Sound and Light from Fractures in Scintillators, Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 154301 (2013)
Combined limits on WIMPs from the CDMS and EDELWEISS experiments, Phys. Rev. D 84, 011102 (2011)
Fracture processes observed with a cryogenic detector, Phys. Lett. A 356, pp262-266 (2006)

Brief Bio

2018-present: Professor, Queen's

2009-2018: Associate Professor, Queen's

2008: Habilitation, Université de Lyon

2001-2009: Junior faculty, Université Lyon 1

1998-2001: Post-doc, Max Planck Institute for Physics, Munich

1998: PhD, Université Paris Sud Orsay and CEA Saclay

1995: Engineer, Ecole Centrale Paris

Jobs

Openings

We are currently looking for Accelerated Masters and graduate students
Nous recrutons des élèves-ingénieurs et des étudiants M1/M2 pour des stages, césures (6 mois minimum en général) et thèses

Tips on applying

Applicants are encouraged to have an idea of what the group is working on, as opposed to sending a vague and generic application that could be sent to many other groups. Because of high email volume, informed applicants stand a better chance of receiving an answer.

Letters of recommendation and references

Letters of recommendation and references often play an important part in applications for jobs and graduate school. Here are some guidelines for requesting them.

Applicants should request letters or references from people who have worked closely with them and know them well - for instance a supervisor of a recent summer project as opposed to an instructor of a class of 300 several years ago.
Applicants should provide their latest CV, and information on where they are applying, as well as transcripts and any other ammunition.
Letters or references should be requested at least 2 weeks in advance (this means the links for the application form, and supporting documents, should be provided two weeks in advance). Applicants requesting several letters should group them together.
A maximum of 3 letters per undergraduate student and per year will be provided.
Provide advance notification if a third party is going to contact me for a reference about you.

Contact

How to reach me

Department of Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy

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Stirling Hall
64 Bader Lane

P: 613-533-3386
E: distefano queensu ca

Getting to Kingston

Via rail train from:

Montreal Dorval airport (YUL, 2.5 hours)
Downtown Montreal, Toronto (just under 3 hours), or Ottawa (just over 2 hours)

Plane:

Fly to Montreal (YUL) or Toronto (YYZ), then take shuttle/Pearson Express and then train
Fly to Ottawa (YOW) or Syracuse (SYR), then drive about 2 hours

Bus from:

YYZ: Coach Canada
Toronto or Montreal: Megabus

P. Di Stefano

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