Research Associate in Cosmology and Gravitation (Fixed Term)

University of Cambridge; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent university in the UK is inviting applications for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position focused on research in cosmology. Candidates should have a PhD in theoretical physics and experience related to the CMB and cosmological research. The successful candidate will collaborate with esteemed professors and contribute to meaningful research outcomes. This role is full-time and offers fixed-term funding for two years.

Qualifications

• Established track record of original research and collaboration experience.
• Experience in cosmology research, including the CMB, large-scale structure, or early universe cosmology.

Responsibilities

• Develop and conduct independent and collaborative research in cosmology.
• Engage in data reduction aspects and manage computational tasks.
• Assist in supervising student projects and skill development.

Skills

Computational experience

Knowledge of parallelisation techniques

GPU programming skills

Research proposal development

Education

PhD in theoretical physics

Job description

Overview

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in cosmology within the Stephen Hawking Centre for Theoretical Cosmology/GR group at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics. The position is within the CTC/GR group and candidates should be qualified to undertake research in the areas of the CMB, large-scale structure and early universe cosmology. We are particularly interested in candidates who can undertake work on higher-order correlators from Simons Observatory CMB data, notably CMB bispectra in combination with other cosmological probes, to gain new insights about inflation and fundamental theory.

Duties

• Develop and conduct independent and collaborative research objectives, proposals and projects in cosmology.
• Engage in data reduction aspects of the project with computational experience, preferably on HPC systems, including knowledge of parallelisation techniques and GPU programming.
• Plan and execute research with guidance as required, and assist in the preparation of funding proposals.
• Communicate technical material effectively and contribute to seminars and presentations.
• Assist in supervising student projects and in developing skills within the group.

Qualifications and background

• PhD in a relevant area of theoretical physics (or about to obtain one) with an established track record of original research and collaboration experience.
• Experience in cosmology research, including work related to the CMB, large-scale structure or early universe cosmology.

Location, start date and terms

The position is expected to be available on or soon after 1 September 2026, but the start date is flexible. Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 2 years in the first instance.

Collaboration and environment

The successful candidate will work primarily with Professors James Fergusson and Paul Shellard, and with academic staff across the Relativity and Gravitation group. There are close links with the HEP group, the AI Infosys Lab in DAMTP, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology. The applicant may be asked to interact with research staff and PhD students across related groups.

Application process

• Click the 'Apply' button to register an account in the recruitment system and apply online.
• Provide contact details for three academic referees on the online application form and upload a full CV and a description of recent research (not to exceed three pages).
• Inform referees that they will be contacted to upload a reference to the recruitment system; ensure at least one referee is contactable during the selection process.
• Quote reference LE47448 on the application and in correspondence about this vacancy.

Contacts

Informal enquiries may be made to James Parke ([e-mail]) or to Professor James Fergusson ([e-mail]) and Professor Paul Shellard ([e-mail]).

Additional information

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. We particularly welcome applications from women and/or candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are under-represented at this level in our Department. The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK. For more information, please refer to the department and university websites: www.ctc.cam.ac.uk, www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/research/gr/ and www.kicc.cam.ac.uk.