15 Postdoctoral Fellowship at University of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

The project will involve the development of new theoretical and computational approaches to study dynamics of interacting quantum systems, in the context of condensed matter physics and ultracold atomic systems. Some of the focus areas of the project include classical and quantum simulations of many-body systems (in particular, matrix product states and tensor network methods), quantum ergodicity and its violations (e.g., quantum scars and many-body localisation), as well as topological phases of matter. The job will involve collaborations within the group, e.g., with the group of Prof Pachos, as well as with our international collaborators. You will have a PhD (or you will have submitted your thesis prior to taking up the appointment) in many-body quantum systems, broadly defined. You will also have experience in modelling, analysis and computational skills and evidence of contributing to papers in internationally recognised, peer-reviewed journals or evidence of publishable research in progress.

The University of Leeds invites applications for a 2-year postdoctoral position in planet formation, working with Dr Richard Booth on a Royal Society funded project into planet formation. You will conduct original research into the formation or evolution of planets. The focus will be to understand how planet formation processes and chemistry interact, how this affects the composition of planets, and the discs that they form in. Holding a PhD (or have submitted your thesis prior to taking up the role) in astrophysics or a related disciple, you will have experience in the simulation of protoplanetary discs or planet formation, and a developing track record of peer-reviewed publications in international journals.

Are you an experienced and ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you have a strong research background in computer vision, machine learning, and autonomous vehicles? Do you want to further your career in a world-leading, research-intensive Russell Group University? With 40 European partners, Hi-Drive, a four-year European Commission flagship project (2021-2025) aims to deploy higher levels of driving automation in self-driving cars and extended operational design domain (ODD) for the next generation of highly automated vehicles. A longer period of automated mode, a lower rate of human take-over requests, comprehensive driver behaviour monitoring, and efficient multi-modal traffic perception beyond the current state-of-the-art are some of the objectives of the project. As part of this project, the Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) at the University of Leeds, the leading research department in the field in the UK, is involved in several work packages and research tasks and is seeking a talented research fellow in the area of computer vision, machine learning, and sensor fusion for developing road-user detection, tracking, trajectory estimation, and in particular driver readiness monitoring in response to a take over request. Pedestrian crossing intention recognition using vision, lidar, and radar sensory data is another key programme output to support the Hi-Drive project by ITS, University of Leeds.

This post provides statistical modelling expertise for various projects within the Leeds Institute for Health Sciences, primarily the large NIHR-funded project FUSED. The FUsED project aims to improve services for people who attend Accident and Emergency Departments on a so-called frequent basis. As part of the programme , the plan is to use large data from Hospital Episode Statistics and the CURE database, a dataset of emergency contacts in the Yorkshire and Humber Region to better understand patterns of frequent attendance at emergency services and  predictors of frequent attendance, followed by an evaluation of current services for frequent attenders using time series analyses. The project is large (consisting of the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York), cross-disciplinary (clinicians, computer scientists, statisticians, health economists, qualitative researchers), and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The University of Leeds team comprises Professor Else Guthrie (clinician and specialist in psychiatry), Professor Robert West  (statistician), Dr Samuel Relton (machine learning, statistics) Professor Chris Bojke (Health Economics), Dr Richard Mattock (Health Economist) and Dr Sonia Saraiva (Programme Manager). As the Research Fellow in Health Data Science, you will take responsibility for the main statistical analyses, working closely with Dr Relton and Professor West.

As a collaborator in the AHRC’s £3.1 million investment in cultural heritage research, the School of Performance and Cultural Industries is looking to recruit an enthusiastic and motivated individual with disciplinary expertise in cultural heritage and a passion for shaping UK policy. With the ability to collaborate effectively in large projects and synthesise disparate information into a useful, coherent structure, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary project across four institutions, aiming to develop a taxonomy of stocks and flows of cultural heritage value that will inform policymakers for years to come. Based at the University of Leeds and working closely with the Centre for Cultural Value, you will be a core member of a dynamic research-industry team and supervised by Dr Hugh Brown. Key project collaborators include Historic England, the University of Liverpool, and the University of Glasgow. The project is funded for 2.5 years and aims to develop and validate a taxonomy of cultural and heritage capital services, stocks and flows.

We are seeking to appoint a Research Fellow in biological applications of theoretical physics and mathematics, funded under the UKRI ‘Building Collaboration in the Physics of Life’ scheme. The project, “A fresh look at visual sampling: (PhysFEM) How are fixational eye-movements optimised?” is in collaboration with Oxford University Department of Experimental Psychology and US collaborators. The project brings theoretical and numerical modelling (Leeds) together with advanced adaptive-optics retinal imaging, positional measurement and stimulation, and computation (Oxford) to explore the hypothesis that fixational eye-movements (FEMs) are optimised to tasks. You will work with Prof. Daniel Read to develop analytical and numerical models of the trajectories of fixational eye movements (FEMs), exploring their influence on biological visual processing, and investigating the characteristics of FEM paths that are most optimal and useful to the observer under a range of assumptions and constraints. Working closely with the experimental team of Prof. Hannah Smithson at the University of Oxford, who measure fine-scale eye movements with an advanced Adaptive Optics Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscope (AO-SLO), you will be part of a core collaborative team, evaluating predictions from models against experiments. You will also work closely with a computational Research Fellow at Oxford and with Prof. David Brainard’s group at the University of Pennsylvania to transfer your new modelling capacity into the public domain via the ISETBio human vision modelling tool.

As a Horne Family Charitable Trust Research Fellow you will be leading on a knowledge exchange and impact strategy from a wider program of research on Domestic Abuse and Violence and Multiple Sclerosis, including the development of a toolkit for practice. You will be based in the School of Sociology and Social Policy (SSP). Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this work you will be mentored by Dr Andrea Hollomotz (SSP) and Professor Helen Ford from the School of Medicine. You will be joining a wider team of researchers associated with the Horne Family Charitable Trust program of research on Domestic Abuse and Violence and Multiple Sclerosis: Kharis Hutchison at the University of Leeds and Professor Nikos Evangelou, Dr Charley Baker and Suzanne Britt from the University of Nottingham. With a first degree and PhD (or close to completion) in Sociology and Social Policy, Critical Disability Studies, Healthcare, Psychology or a closely allied discipline, you will also have a strong background in disability studies and/or the sociological study of interpersonal violence or victim support.

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral Research Associate/Fellow to work on the development of protocols and strategies for the ultra-high resolution imaging and force mapping of single atoms and molecules using scanning probe microscopes. The project will extend previously published work [Sweetman et al. Nature Communications 7, 10621 (2016)] to a more sophisticated methodology involving the complex 3D mapping of tips functionalised with complex organic molecules, and their interactions with novel self-assembled molecular monolayers. Holding a PhD (or have submitted your thesis before taking up the role) in Physics or a closely allied discipline; you will have experience in Ultra-High Vacuum (UHV) techniques/technology and variable/low temperature scanning probe microscopy (SPM).  A background in atomic scale imaging and/or atomic manipulation techniques is essential.

We are looking for a Research Fellow to join our project to develop ‘lumping’ techniques to approximate Markov chain dynamics on networks.  The project is funded by the Leverhulme Trust and you will work with the lead investigator, Dr Jonathan Ward, on mathematical network science research. The aim of the project is to develop exact and approximate methods for the analysis of a broad range of dynamical processes on networks. As part of this, you will contribute to the development of a new theoretical framework and explore real-world applications.  You will have a PhD in Mathematics, Physics, or a closely allied discipline, with a strong background in mathematical and simulation studies of dynamical processes. Ideally you would have expertise in dynamics on networks or a related area, such as Markov chains, statistical mechanics, or dynamical systems. You will have the ability to conduct independent research and a developing track record of publications in international journals. The School of Mathematics is committed to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, and to an environment free of any type of discrimination, where everyone can reach their full potential. We strive to support the career development of the Postdoctoral Research Fellows that we recruit, and to provide them with the flexibility and support needed in their development as the future generation of world-leading researchers. The School of Mathematics also offers a number of family-friendly employment practices that are designed to enable a good work-life balance and to be responsive to support personal circumstances. In many roles we offer flexible working and part- time working, and we have a range of services to help support staff through work and personal challenges.

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for your next challenge? Do you want to further your career in one of the UKs leading research-intensive Universities? You will join a collaborative programme between the Schools of Physics and Astronomy (Dr Simon Connell), Chemical Engineering (Prof Mojtaba Ghadiri, Dr Andrew Scott) and Mechanical Engineering (Prof Michael Bryant), Imperial College London (Prof Jerry Heng), and seven companies including Pfizer and AstraZeneca, working on tribo-electrification, the phenomenon of electric charge transfer through friction. This is responsible for the seemingly innocuous electric shocks on escalators to serious fire and explosion hazards in the manufacturing industry, but can also be used to good effect, including the rapidly developing field of Tribo-Electric Nano-Generators (TENG). Holding an experimental PhD (or have submitted your thesis before taking up the role) in Physics/Engineering or a closely related discipline; you will have research experience, preferably in the areas of instrumentation, signal processing and scanning probe microscopy. Your project will focus on providing the crucial experimental data that will feed into the wider project of modelling particulate charge distribution resulting from aerodynamic dispersion and handling, and TENG development. This will involve application of Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy, based around the Atomic Force Microscope, to characterise surface charge, as well as morphology and other surface.

The Nutrition and Lifestyle Analytics team are based between the School of Food Science and Nutrition and the interdisciplinary setting of the Leeds Institute for Data Analytics, working closely alongside the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC). A Research Fellow is required to work on a major project, funded by the IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution) – a social impact organisation – to evaluate the impact of pilot trials to promote healthier and more sustainable diets in an in-store setting. The Research Fellow will analyse customer sales/loyalty card data in combination with the nutrition/health metrics and sustainability indicators. The programme works with the IGD and their 20 retailer and manufacturer working group members, who are implementing consumer behaviour change interventions. For more information about this project, please click here. This project is led from the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds but works closely with scholars from other disciplines.  You will report to Professor Michelle Morris who leads the Nutrition and Lifestyle team and work closely with Professor William Young (Business and Sustainability) and Dr Alison Fildes (Psychology).

Are you an ambitious researcher looking for research challenges with impact to industry? Do you have a background in cement-based materials? Do you want to further your career in one of the UK’s leading research-intensive university and work closely with industry? If so, then this role may be for you. In this project we try to develop novel smart materials, that are able to sense themselves. The material comprises mortar infused with conductive carbon nanoparticles, applicable for repair of masonry structures through repointing of mortar joints. This material is designed to provide improved strength and ductility, which are critical in enhancing the durability of existing masonry structures. With the industrial support, the suitability of the novel material to be applied to full scale masonry structure will be assessed, and its commercial viability will be verified.

The global wind energy sector has been growing rapidly over the past two decades. According to GWEC Market Intelligence, global cumulative installations of onshore and offshore wind will exceed 1TW before 2025. Once wind turbines are installed, they are expected to run around 20-25 years, during which O&M (operation and maintenance) becomes crucial to maximise the economic and environmental benefits of wind assets. As turbines age, the cost of O&M is increasing significantly, which will make the O&M business very lucrative in the coming decade.  In this project, we will develop a robotic solution for inspection and repair of wind turbine blades (WTBs), both onshore and offshore. The inspection unit of Romain consists of lock-in shearography and thermography with laser heating, so that surface and subsurface defects within WTBs can be identified and quantified. (Current techniques including drone-based inspections are limited to surface defects only). The repair unit is able to perform various functions such as applying composite repair patch and heating and compaction curing and consolidation. A compact and efficient robotic deployment system will carry the inspection and repair units to climb along the WTBs to perform maintenance work. The whole system will be operated by engineers working on ground (for onshore wind farms) or on a vessel (for offshore wind farms), hence greatly reducing their risk exposure.

You will become a key team member of the Ice Nucleation Group and the Atmospheric and Planetary Chemistry group in Leeds. You will be responsible for exploring the mechanisms of ice clouds in a very poorly understood clouds in the atmospheres of Venus and Mars through novel experiments.  Recent missions reveal conditions where CO₂ and H₂O ice clouds can exist in the mesosphere of both Mars and Venus. Comparable ice clouds in Earth’s atmosphere are important for the redistribution of condensable materials, atmospheric chemistry and, in the case of denser ice clouds, radiative transfer. These cloud-atmosphere interactions depend critically on ice particle size and number, which is determined by the nucleation mechanism. However, our understanding of how ice particles in these clouds form in the mesosphere of Mars and Venus is in its infancy.

We are looking for an outstanding postdoctoral research fellow to join our interdisciplinary research team work on ciliary proteins implicated in genetic disorders. Funded by the UK BBSRC, you will use integrative structural biology, high-speed atomic force microscopy and other cutting-edge biophysical techniques alongside cell biology methods to investigate the structures of these proteins and study their interactions with binding partners. This will provide a molecular-level understanding of how they contribute to cilium function and how mutations cause disease.  For this role, you should have a PhD (or close to completion) in structural biology or a closely allied discipline. You should also have extensive experience in: protein structure determination and analysis using X-ray crystallography, NMR, mass spectrometry or cryo-EM; cloning, recombinant protein production and purification; performing and analysing molecular dynamics simulations of biological macromolecules; and mammalian and/or insect cell culture. You should also have strong laboratory and computational skills, an interest in learning new techniques and a passion for integrative structural biology. The University of Leeds and the Faculty of Biological Sciences are committed to providing equal opportunities for all and offer a range of family friendly policies. The University is a charter member of Athena SWAN (the national body that promotes gender equality in higher education), and the Faculty of Biological Sciences was awarded a Silver award in 2020.  We are proud to be an inclusive Faculty that values all staff, and are happy to consider requests for flexible working arrangements from our employees. Our Athena SWAN webpage provides more information.