Vacancies

The Kavli Institute for Cosmology, Cambridge, is offering one or more Kavli Institute Fellowships or Senior Fellowships in the areas of Cosmology and Astrophysics. These are prestigious independent research fellowships, for a fixed term of three-years in the first instance, with the possibility of two further years (subject to funding) if appointed to a Senior Fellowship.

Applicants must have a PhD in Astrophysics, or a related field, or have submitted their PhD thesis by the start date of the fellowship. We welcome applications from observers and theorists with interests relevant to one or more of the following scientific themes of the Kavli Institute (see http://www.kicc.cam.ac.uk): the cosmic microwave background and the early Universe; the formation and evolution of galaxies and of supermassive black holes; the epoch of cosmic reionization; evolution of the intergalactic medium; the nature of dark matter; large-scale structure and precision cosmology; and gravitational waves.

The Kavli Institute brings together astrophysicists and cosmologists from three departments across the University of Cambridge. We provide an extremely lively and stimulating scientific environment, bridging the gap between the departments to further our understanding of the Universe from the Big Bang to local galaxies.

We are located two kilometres west of the centre of Cambridge, in extensive grounds and woodland shared with the Institute of Astronomy and the Battcock Centre for Experimental Astrophysics (Department of Physics). The site provides an extremely pleasant working environment.

Successful applicants will be expected to build an independent research program but will have many opportunities for collaborative work with members of the Kavli Institute. They will disseminate their research findings through publications and presentations and contribute to the Institute's public-engagement activities. Successful applicants will have opportunities to assist with the supervision of graduate students. Applicants must have excellent communication and computing skills.

Salary will be either on the Research Associate scale (grade 7, from £36,024 to £44,263) if appointed as Kavli Institute Fellow or, for exceptional and established researchers, on the Senior Research Associate scale (grade 9, from £45,585 to £57,696) if appointed as Kavli Institute Senior Fellow. A research allowance of £10,000 per annum and a generous relocation package will be provided. Further benefits of University employment are outlined at http://www.induction.admin.cam.ac.uk/.

Appointment as a Research Associate (grade 7) is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted their thesis but not yet been awarded their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant and amended to Research Associate when the PhD is awarded. The Research Assistant salary (grade 5) falls within the range £32,982 to £33,966.

The University of Cambridge thrives on the diversity of its staff and students. Applications from under-represented groups are particularly welcome. The University has several family-friendly policies and initiatives, including a returning-carer scheme, childcare costs support, University workplace nurseries, University holiday play-schemes, and a shared parental-leave policy. As part of its commitment to providing a family friendly environment for researchers, the Kavli Institute ensures that should parental leave be needed during the course of employment, there is provision for extension to contract to compensate for the parental leave taken.

Informal enquiries can be addressed via email to kavlisec@ast.cam.ac.uk.

The post is full-time, but applications are welcome from those who would like to work flexibly.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please ensure that you upload your Curriculum Vitae (CV), cover letter, publications list and research statement (three A4 pages maximum including references in 11pt font) in the Upload section of the online application. The names and contact details of three academic referees are a necessary part of the submission.

Referees will be contacted automatically following an application, but applicants are strongly advised to prepare nominated referees for the need to provide references by 27 October 2024. Please note in your cover letter whether you wish to be considered for a Kavli Institute Fellowship or a Kavli Institute Senior Fellowship.

As a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, the University of Cambridge does not use journal-level metrics when assessing the quality of research outputs. Applicants should not include journal-level metrics, such as the Journal Impact Factor, anywhere in their application materials.

Closing date: 20th October 2024 (applications to be received by 23:59 BST)

Applications will be reviewed after the closing date and short-listed candidates will be interviewed in December 2024.

Appointees shall ideally start in October 2025, but alternative starting dates can be arranged with some flexibility.

Please quote reference LG42951 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 March 2026 in the first instance with good prospects for further extension subject to grant funding. The anticipated start date is 1st December 2024 or as early as possible thereafter.

This is an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic Astronomical Data Scientist to work within the Cambridge Astronomical Survey Unit (CASU) at the Institute of Astronomy (IoA) as part of CASU's spectroscopic analysis system development team.

WEAVE, MOONS and 4MOST are major massively-multiplexed optical/NIR spectrographs currently under advanced stages of development, to be deployed on the 4.2-m William Herschel, ESO VLT and VISTA telescopes respectively. They will enable large, cutting-edge spectroscopic surveys to be undertaken across both hemispheres, observing millions of stars and galaxies during their initial multi-year survey periods. The CASU team has developed the spectroscopic pipelines for WEAVE and 4MOST and has responsibility for the final development, commissioning and operations of the data pipelines. CASU is developing the data flow system and housing the survey operations centre for MOONS.

The successful candidate will join CASU's software development team, developing novel scientific algorithms and applications in the areas of spectroscopic analysis and mining of the science data catalogues extracted from the pipelines. Responsibilities range from monitoring instrument health and scientific quality of the data, tracking progress of the surveys, to preparing for community observing campaigns and data releases. The role's additional duties involve supporting computational infrastructure, coordinating with wider spectroscopic project teams and external science users, contributing to documentation and user manuals, and collaborating on research programs to optimise data interpretation and usage. There are also opportunities to participate in data analysis science under CASU's broader astronomical and medical programmes.

Applicants will have a Ph.D. in astronomy or a related field and have a strong computing and programming background. Candidates are expected to be familiar with the acquisition and reduction of data from astronomical facilities and with the use of database and web-based systems. Previous experience in the development of software for large-scale spectroscopic surveys is desirable. Experience and practical knowledge of Python to query databases, manipulate large datasets, visualise data and perform numerical and statistical analysis is a requirement. Experience in handling 'big data', machine learning and working in distributed teams, is useful. Systems engineering experience is also relevant for this position.

Working at the crucial interface between the instrument and the scientific output, this role would encompass on-site commissioning and support for world-leading facilities such as WHT (WEAVE), VISTA (4MOST) and VLT (MOONS). The post-holder will be required to attend meetings both elsewhere in the UK and overseas.

Salary will be on the Research Associate scale (grade 7, from £36,024 to £44,263). Appointment as a Research Associate (grade 7) is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted their thesis but not yet been awarded their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant and amended to Research Associate when the PhD is awarded. The Research Assistant salary (grade 5) falls within the range £32,982 to £33,966.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please indicate the contact details of three academic referees on the online application form and upload a full curriculum vitae (CV), list of publications, and a research statement (three A4 pages max, minimum font size 11), including a description of how your research expertise can be applied to the project. Please ensure that your referees are aware that they may be contacted by the Institute of Astronomy.

The University of Cambridge is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). DORA recognises the need to improve the ways in which the outputs of scholarly research are evaluated. The University expects candidates to apply the principles of DORA when preparing their applications. We do not use journal level metrics when assessing the quality of research outputs. Applicants should not include journal level metrics, such as the Journal Impact Factor, anywhere in their application materials. More information about DORA, its principles and aims can be found at: https://sfdora.org/ .

The application deadline is 23:59 BST on Friday 13th September 2024. Where applicable, referees will be requested to provide references by 30th September, 2024.

Applications will be reviewed after the closing date and interviews are provisionally planned for: w/c 7th October 2024

The anticipated start date of the appointment is 1st December 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Informal enquires can be addressed via email to Dr Nicholas Walton: naw@ast.cam.ac.uk. If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact HR@ast.cam.ac.uk.

Please quote reference LG42614 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. The University thrives on the diversity of its staff and students. Applications from underrepresented groups are particularly welcome. See the further particulars for the detail of the family friendly initiatives on offer.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.