Assistant Professor (Research): Willmore Fellow in Theoretical Particle Physics (MATH22-2)

Job title:                                 Assistant Professor (Research) in Theoretical Particle Physics (Willmore Fellow)           

Vacancy reference:              MATH22-2

Department:                          Mathematical Sciences

Responsible to:                     Head of Department

Grade:                                     Grade 7

Salary Range:                        £34,304 - £40,927 per annum 

Working arrangements:       The role is full time but we will consider requests for flexible working arrangements including potential job shares

Contract type:                        Full Time and Fixed Term for 3 years

Closing date:                        6 March 2022 at Midnight (UK)

Preferred start date:             Successful candidates will ideally be in post by 1 September 2022

Durham University

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a collegiate community of extraordinary people, a unique and historic setting – Durham is a university like no other.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world.

As part of Durham University, you’ll be working with exceptional minds, all with the desire to ask, and answer, the big questions. Access to leading edge facilities and an active contributor to the global research and university community means you’ll be part of an international and diverse network of partners spanning the world’s best research institutions, organisations and businesses. And all this within the evocative and historic surroundings of the city, county and community that is Durham.

We find it easy to be proud of the extraordinary people we have at Durham. We offer the inspiration, they achieve the outstanding. We invite you to join them.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.  We are committed to equality: if for any reason you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on your career path, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application.  The selection committee will recognise that this may have reduced the quantity of your research accordingly.

Durham University’s Athena Swan institutional award recognises and celebrates good practice in recruiting and supporting the development of women. We have also signed up to the Race Equality Charter, a national framework for improving the representation, progression and success of minority ethnic staff and students within higher education.

The Department

The Department of Mathematical Sciences at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor.  We welcome applications from those with research interests in the broad field of Theoretical Particle Physics and we are particularly eager to hear from applicants with a focus on quantum field theory, string theory, holography, solitons, and integrability.

This post offers an exciting opportunity to make a major contribution to the development of internationally excellent research while allowing you unrivalled opportunities to progress and embed your career in an exciting and progressive institution. For more information, please visit our Department pages at Mathematical Sciences - Durham University .

Assistant Professors (Research) at Durham

The University is committed to enabling all of our colleagues to achieve their full potential. We promote and maintain an inclusive and supportive environment to ensure that all colleagues can thrive.  Academic colleagues are supported to publish world-class research in their area of interest with a focus on quality in high-impact journals, rather than quantity. We will fully support your research needs including practical help, such as resources to attend conferences and to fund research activity, as well as a generous research leave policy and a designated mentor.

All of our Assistant Professors (Research) are encouraged to focus on research but also to engage in wider citizenship to enhance their own development, to support their department and wider discipline.

Willmore Fellow in Theoretical Particle Physics

Applicants must demonstrate research excellence in the field of Theoretical Particle Physics, with the ability to fully engage in the services, citizenship and values of the University.  The University provides a working, research and teaching environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect. Candidates will be expected to demonstrate these key principles as part of the assessment process.

Key responsibilities:

• Pursue research that is world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour, commensurate with the Department’s continuing emphasis on international excellence;
• Be developing clear plans for the pursuit of suitable national and international funding opportunities to support research and end-user engagement;
• Contribute to enhancing the quality of the research environment in the Department, the wider University and beyond through collaborative research activity;
• Demonstrate a willingness to take contribute to the administrative work, citizenship and values of the Department;
• To fully engage in and enhance the values of the Department;
• To contribute to attracting and supervising research students, and to enhance the Department’s commitment to its vibrant and international postgraduate culture.
• Carry out such other duties as specified by the Head of Department.

Person Specification

Candidates applying for a grade 7 post will have recently completed or be concluding their PhD and while they may have limited direct experience of the requirements for the post, they must outline their experience, skills and achievements to date which demonstrate that they meet or that they have the potential to achieve the essential criteria.

Research

Candidates must have capacity for and be progressing towards the independent development of internationally excellent research that produces high quality outcomes, including some work that is recognised as world class. 

Essential Research Criteria – Grade 7

Services, Citizenship and Values

This post is focused on research but candidates will be expected to actively engage in the administrative requirements of the Department, notably related to their research, and/or the research and research environment of the department.

Candidates must positively contribute to fostering a collegial environment; as well as demonstrating their commitment to equality diversity and inclusion.

Essential Services, Citizenship and Values criteria – Grade 7

Desirable Criteria – Grade 7

The desirable criteria for this post (for which candidates should provide evidence of some if not all criteria) are :

Contact Information

Department contact for academic-related enquiries

Associate Professor Stefano Cremonesi (Mathematical and Theoretical Particle Physics)

Email:  [email protected]

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email.  Please send your name along with a brief description of the problem you’re experiencing to [email protected]

Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time.  We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

University contact for general queries about the recruitment process

Kasia Kobielski - HR Administaroe 

[email protected] 

How to Apply

We prefer to receive applications online.   

Please note that in submitting your application, we will be processing your data.  We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement https://www.dur.ac.uk/ig/dp/privacy/pnjobapplicants/  which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data. 

Information if you have a disability

The University welcomes applications from disabled people. We are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, adjustments will be made to support people within their role.

If you are unable to complete your application via our recruitment system, please get in touch with us on [email protected] .

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

Where possible we request that you provide web links to these which the hiring Department will access to read your work.  The application form contains fields in which to enter each of the web links.

In the event you are unable to provide accessible links to online hosting of your work, your work should be uploaded as PDFs as part of your application in our recruitment system. Please ensure that your PDFs are not larger than 5mb. Please note that your work may be read by colleagues from across the Department and evaluated against the current REF criteria;

Please save all application documents with your name and document type as PDF files.

We will notify you on the status of your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system.  Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to ensure you receive all emails.

Referees

You should provide details of 3 academic referees and the details of your current line manager so that we may seek an employment reference (if they are not listed as an academic referee).  Please note:

• We shall seek the academic references during the application process.  Academic referees should not (if possible) include your PhD supervisor(s) and a majority should be from a University other than your own (save for early career applicants applying for their first post).  We would ask that you alert your academic referees to this application as soon as possible, and provide them with a copy of the CV you submit with your application, so that we can quickly obtain references should you be progressed to the interview stage. As part of your application you will be asked whether you give your consent to your academic references being sought should you be invited to attend interview.
• Academic references sought for short-listed candidates may be made available to the panel during the interview process.
• We will seek a reference from your current line-manager if we make you an offer of employment (albeit you may have also nominated your line manager as an academic referee).  Please clearly indicate which referee is your current line-manager and please let us know if we should only approach them once an offer has been made.

Next Steps

All applications will be considered; our usual practice is for colleagues across the Department to read the submitted work of long-listed candidates. 

Short-listed candidates will be invited to the University and will have the opportunity to meet key members of the Department.  The assessment for the post will normally include a presentation to staff and students in the Department followed by an interview and we anticipate that the assessments and interviews will take place over two days in or around May 2022. 

In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.

About the Department 

The Department is one of the UK’s best mathematics departments, with an outstanding reputation in research, teaching, and student employability. Ranked 7th in terms of grade point average intensity in the Research Excellence Framework 2014, it has an active programme of internationally recognised research in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics (including Applied and Computational Mathematics as well as Mathematical and Theoretical Particle Physics), and Statistics and Probability. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community.  The Department, which currently has 100 permanent members of staff, has recently grown significantly, and will continue to grow.  In early 2021, we moved to a newly constructed building, which we share with Computer Science, with the goal of fostering constructive interdisciplinary exchanges.

The Department has a proud tradition of delivering excellence in its undergraduate programmes through research-led and small group teaching. Attracting some of the best students in the UK, the Department is ranked 7th in the Complete University Guide 2022.

The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia. The Department also supports the London Mathematical Society Good Practice Scheme, whose aim is to support mathematics departments to embed equal opportunities for women within their working practices.

For more information, please visit our website at Mathematical Sciences - Durham University

About Durham University

As one of the UK’s leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career while enjoying a high quality work/life balance. We are home to some of the most talented scholars and researchers from around the world who are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

The University sits in a beautiful historic city where it shares ownership of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Durham Cathedral.  A collegiate University, Durham recruits outstanding students from across the world and offers an unmatched wider student experience.

Less than 3 hours north of London, and an hour and a half south of Edinburgh, County Durham is a region steeped in history and natural beauty. The Durham Dales, including the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, are home to breathtaking scenery and attractions. Durham offers an excellent choice of city, suburban and rural residential locations. The University provides a range of benefits including pension and childcare provision and the University’s Relocation Manager can assist with potential schooling requirements.

If you’d like to find out more about the University or relocating you and your family to Durham, please visit https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/recruitment/