Research Associate (Fixed Term)

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available until 31 March 2027 in the first instance.

A position exists for Research Assistant/Associate in astronomical interferometric image reconstruction.

The Astrophysics Group at the Cavendish Laboratory has an on-going program developing and exploiting state-of-the-art optical and near-infrared instrumentation for astronomers worldwide. As part of this program, the group develops computational methods to analyse data from optical interferometers such as the VLTI, CHARA and the MROI.

The role holder will work under the supervision of Dr. John Young to develop a new multi-spectral image reconstruction algorithm for optical interferometry. The new method will apply variational inference to the non-convex inverse problem, drawing on the earlier development of RESOLVE for radio interferometry. The project will be carried out in collaboration with Astrophysics Group members Prof. David Buscher and Prof. Chris Haniff, and external collaborator Prof. Fabien Baron (Georgia State University).

The role would suit a candidate with experience of classical Bayesian inference techniques for analysis of sparse and noisy datasets, in domains such as astronomy/astrophysics, geophysics, and image processing. Candidates must be skilled at scientific programming in Python, with knowledge of the C++ and/or Julia languages an advantage.

The post holder will be located at the Department of Physics Cavendish Laboratory JJ Thomson Avenue Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.

Research Associate: £36,024 - £44,263 (Grade 7). Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD. Those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD will initially be appointed as a Research Assistant (Grade 5, Point 38 - £32,982) moving to Research Associate (Grade 7) upon confirmation of your PhD award.

Appointment at research associate is dependent on having a PhD including those who have submitted but not yet received their PhD (in which case appointment will initially be made at research assistant and amended to research associate when the PhD is awarded).

To apply online for this vacancy, please click on the 'Apply' button below. This will route you to the University's Web Recruitment System, where you will need to register an account and log in before completing the online application form.

Ensure that you upload your Curriculum Vitae (CV) and a covering letter in the upload section of the online application. If you upload any additional documents which have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application. Please submit your application by midnight on the closing date.

The names and contact details of two 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 Sunday 31st March.

If you have any questions about this vacancy please contact Dr. John Young ([email protected] ). If you have any questions about the application process, please contact [email protected] .

Please quote reference KA40739 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

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