Physics King’s College London in United Kingdom

About us

The Faculty of Natural, Mathematical & Engineering Sciences (NMES) comprises Chemistry, Engineering, Informatics, Mathematics, and Physics – all departments highly rated in research activities and a wide-ranging portfolio of education programmes.

Celebrating diversity and supporting staff is important to us and we offer a range of provision including flexible working, caring support (including a  Parenting and Carers Fund and the  Carer’s Career Development Fun d), training, and a variety of diversity and inclusion networks. Staff can apply for flexible working to help them balance the demands of their professional and personal commitments and we offer comprehensive leave policies for parental, adoption, surrogacy, dependant and shared leave.

The university is making investment in NMES and both student and staff numbers are growing. Our staff come from over 45 countries and 56% of our students are from outside the UK. Principally located on the Strand Campus in the heart of central London, further details available at  www.kcl.ac.uk/nms .

Physics:

The study of Physics at King's dates back to the foundation of the College in 1829. The Department is currently undergoing significant growth with substantial investment in new appointments, research infrastructure and laboratory space refurbishment. We offer a range of UG courses in both three-year (BSc) and 4-year (MSci) versions as well as MSc and PhD programmes.

Further information may be found at: http://www.kcl.ac.uk/physics

About the role

We are seeking to fill a position of Postdoctoral Research Associate, working in close collaboration with Prof. Giovanna Tinetti and her team and collaborators at KCL.

The main purpose of this role is to develop new and/or to use existing models to simulate the atmospheres of exoplanets and use this information to interpret spectroscopic data from current observatories (e.g. JWST) and in preparation to future space telescopes (e.g. ESA Ariel).

The successful candidate will work on the development of data analysis algorithms for the observation and interpretation of existing and new spectroscopic data of exoplanet atmospheres. Experience on cloud/haze microphysics modelling and large scale simulations is desirable.

It is expected that the projects will yield a significant number of publications and opportunities to publicise the research, so that excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential.

Among the duties and responsibilities, the candidate will help the supervision of MSc and PhD students.

This is a full time post, and the candidate will be offered a fixed term contract until 30/07/2027 in the first instance.

About you

Applicants should have, or be about to obtain, a PhD in Physics, Astrophysics or related subject.

Candidates will be expected to have a working knowledge of a structured programming language, ideally python, and should have good experience in the analysis of photometric and spectroscopic data of exoplanet atmospheres.

The projects will involve the use, modification and extension of in-house codes, such as Tau-REx and YunMa, tailored to exoplanet atmosphere observations and interpretation, so that prior knowledge and use of these codes would be ideal.

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      A PhD in physics, Astrophysics or related subject; awarded or near completion*

2.      Effective written and verbal communication skills

3.      Experience of working collaboratively in a research environment

4.      Commitment to high quality research

5.      Knowledge of a structured programming language, e.g. python

6.      Experience in the performance analysis of exoplanet observations, including photometric and spectroscopic data

7.      Experience in modelling exoplanet atmospheres and using spectral retrieval algorithms

Desirable criteria

1.     Experience in cloud microphysics

2.     Experience in large scale simulations

3.     Experience in relevant experiments related to exoplanet atmospheres (e.g. JWST, Ariel)

4.     Experience in molecular spectroscopy

5.     Experience in using TauREx open source code

Downloading a copy of our Job Description

Full details of the role and the skills, knowledge and experience required can be found in the Job Description document, provided at the bottom of the next page after you click “Apply Now”. This document will provide information of what criteria will be assessed at each stage of the recruitment process.

* Please note that this is a PhD level role but candidates who have submitted their thesis and are awaiting award of their PhDs will be considered. In these circumstances the appointment will be made at Grade 5, spine point 30 with the title of Research Assistant. Upon confirmation of the award of the PhD, the job title will become Research Associate and the salary will increase to Grade 6.

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

As part of this commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and through this appointment process, it is our aim to develop candidate pools that include applicants from all backgrounds and communities.

We ask all candidates to submit a copy of their CV, and a supporting statement, detailing how they meet the essential criteria listed in the advert. If we receive a strong field of candidates, we may use the desirable criteria to choose our final shortlist, so please include your evidence against these where possible.

To find out how our managers will review your application, please take a look at our ‘ How we Recruit ’ pages.