Assistant Professor (88164-0425)

University of Warwick; Coventry; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking institution as an Assistant Professor focusing on the PLATO Mission, aimed at discovering habitable planets. This exciting role offers the chance to collaborate with a vast network of scientists, contributing to groundbreaking astrophysical research. You will be part of a vibrant academic community dedicated to excellence and innovation, with opportunities for flexible working arrangements. If you have a passion for astrophysics and a desire to make a significant impact in the field, this position is perfect for you. Embrace the opportunity to shape the future of space exploration!

Benefits

Attractive pension scheme

30 days holiday plus Christmas closure

Excellent learning and development opportunities

Onsite childcare facilities

Generous parental leave policy

Qualifications

• PhD required in Astrophysics or a related discipline.
• Proven track record in astrophysics research and project support.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the PLATO Mission supporting over 500 scientists.
• Manage and validate scientific efforts for the PLATO mission.

Skills

Astrophysics

Project Support

Research in Exoplanets

Asteroseismology

Low Mass Stars

Education

PhD in Astrophysics or related discipline

Job description

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University of Warwick provided pay range

This range is provided by University of Warwick. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

Base pay range

About The Role

For informal enquiries, please contact Don Pollacco (Professor) [e-mail] or David Brown (Senior Research Fellow) [e-mail]

We will consider applications for employment on a part-time or other flexible working basis, even where a position is advertised as full-time, unless there are operational or other objective reasons why it is not possible to do so.

This is an exciting opportunity to join the PLATO Mission Consortium and the PLATO Science Management Office which defines and validates the science that underpins the mission. The Science Management Office is sited in the Astronomy and Astrophysics Group within the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick. This is a permanent University appointment.

We are seeking to appoint a proven researcher wanting to contribute towards PLATO - a space mission dedicated to finding terrestrial habitable zone planets orbiting Sun-like stars. This will involve supporting the efforts of more than 500 scientists across Europe. Depending on responsibilities to the mission, there will be research time of up to 25% available in this role. The PLATO spacecraft remains on schedule to launch in the final quarter of 2026.

About You

We are looking for someone with a PhD in Astrophysics or a related discipline, and a proven track record of project support and astrophysics research, preferably in exoplanets, asteroseismology, or low mass stars.

For further information regarding the skills required for this role please see the personal specification section of the attached job description.

About The Department

The PLATO Science Management Office and Astrophysics at Warwick

Role

The PLATO Science Management (PSM) Office was established at the University of Warwick in 2016. Its role is to support the science development and validation of the mission through managing the efforts of scientists across (and beyond) Europe. Further information on the PSM is available from:

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/research/plato-warwick/

Post-launch, the Science Management Office and associated scientists will be responsible for organizing the data verification both from the spacecraft and ground-based support data.

Astrophysical research within the Department of Physics is divided between two groups:

The Astronomy and Astrophysics group at Warwick is interested in time-resolved observational astrophysics, encompassing white dwarfs, high energy transient events such as gamma-ray bursts or mergers of stellar remnants that generate gravitational waves, and the characterization and study of exoplanets. The group makes extensive use of ground- and space-based telescopes. We construct and operate our own facilities sited in Chile, Australia, and La Palma.

The Centre for Fusion Space and Astrophysics is an interdisciplinary centre embracing plasma physics applied to the grand challenges of magnetic and inertial confined fusion power, space plasma physics, solar physics, and astrophysics. The research spans fundamental theory, observation, and the analysis of experimental data, combined with high performance computing.

Department of Physics

The post will be based in the Department of Physics, a vibrant academic department with 200 academic, research, technical and professional services staff, over 800 undergraduate students, and 200 postgraduate research students.

We are proud of our diverse community of staff, students, and visitors, and are committed to maintaining an excellent record in teaching and research by ensuring that there is equality of opportunity for all, fostered in an environment of mutual respect and dignity.

We hold an Athena SWAN Silver award, a national initiative to promote gender equality for all staff and students. We are also a Juno Champion, which is an award from the Institute of Physics to recognise our efforts to address the under-representation of women in university physics and to encourage better practice for both women and men.

Further information about working in the Department of Physics and the benefits available can be found at www.warwick.ac.uk/physics/staff/working/.

The University supports flexible working and requests for part-time working or job-share will be considered where possible.

Childcare for interviews

Childcare can be provided for you at the University of Warwick Nursery (www.warwick.ac.uk/services/childrensservices/nursery) in order for you to attend the interview. Childcare is subject to availability of places at the Nursery.

About The University

Born in the 60s with a mindset of boldness, imagination and collaboration, the University of Warwick is a world-leading research-intensive university with the highest academic and research standards. We’re one of the world’s top universities, ranked 67th in the world and 10th in the UK*, with 92% of our research assessed to be ‘world leading or internationally excellent’**.

You'll be joining a diverse, innovative and globally connected community committed to igniting real world progress. Here at Warwick, we offer you opportunities to follow your ambitions as long as you bring the energy and determination to succeed.

• QS World University Rankings 2024
• Research Excellence Framework 2021
  
  

To find out more about us visit our website.

How to Apply

CLOSING DATE: Monday 5th May 2025 at 23:55 (GMT)

To apply, please click ‘Apply’ below and submit an application form by the closing date.

Please plan for any potential delays as you will not be able to submit an application form past this deadline (even if you opened the form at, say, 23:30).

To apply, please complete your essential personal details and attach a CV (including a full publication list), a concise description of your research accomplishments and relevant organisational and technical experience, and a signed covering letter explaining why you wish to be considered for the position.

• Your CV should include your employment history (including your most recent employment), your education history, and any other relevant experience.
• Your cover letter should explain your motivations for applying to the role. It should also explain, using examples, how you meet each of the essential and desirable criteria detailed in the Job Description PDF document below. Please note that all essential criteria must be met by candidates who are invited to interview.
  
  

Please see here for guidance on writing a cover letter. We highly recommend using individual criteria as headers and explaining below, using examples, how you meet the criterion, though you are free to format the letter as you wish.

To streamline our hiring processes, we can only accept applications submitted via our official careers webpage, warwick-careers.tal.net.

• Interview Date: May 2025
• Start Date: ASAP
  
  

What we Offer

We will provide you with a great range of benefits, which include an attractive pension scheme, 30 days holiday plus Christmas closure, excellent learning and development opportunities, and savings on a wide range of products and services. We offer a generous maternity/paternity/adoption/parental leave policy, and onsite childcare facilities.

We recognise the importance of a healthy work/life balance and offer you access to flexible working, for more information click here.

We are proud to say that we are a Living Wage employer.

If you are considering relocating to the UK, read our Relocation Guide to find out more about what Warwick has to offer and what might be involved in the process.

Our Commitment to Inclusion

Warwick is committedto building an organisation ofmutual respectanddignity, promoting awelcoming, diverse, and inclusive workingand learning environment. We recognise that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to berecognised, respected, and valued. Where possible, we go beyond legislation to provide a place where everyone can thrive, supporting all staff to achieve their full potential. We aspire to remove economic, social, and cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent people from succeeding.

We therefore welcome and encourage applications from all communities regardless of culture, background, age, disability, sex/gender, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion/belief, or sexual or romantic orientation. To find out more about our social inclusion work at Warwick visit our webpageshere.

The University currently holds aRace Equality Charter Bronze Award,Athena Swan Sliver Awardand aDisability Smart Bronze Award.The University of Warwick is also one of the six founder institutions of theEUTOPIA European University Alliance.

Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)

The University of Warwick is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all those we work with.

In line with the DBS Code of Practice, the successful candidates for any roles involving regulated activity, will be subject to a DBS check at the appropriate level. The University will take all necessary measures to ensure that any individual subject to a barring order does not undertake any work with the barred group specified (i.e. children and/or adults).

We expect all employees, volunteers, and partners to share our commitment to safeguarding.

Rehabilitation of Ex-Offenders

The University undertakes not to discriminate against anyone who makes a disclosure relating to a conviction. The information disclosed at application stage is only visible to the central DBS team (i.e. not recruiting managers) to ensure there is no bias during the shortlisting process.

Job Description

JD - Assistant Professor (Research Focused) (88164).pdf – 88KB Opens in a new window

Right to Work in the UK

If you do not yet have the right to work in the UK and/or are seeking sponsorship for a Skilled Worker visa, please follow this link which contains further information about obtaining the right to work in the UK.

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