Description

About us
Mullard Space Science Laboratory is located on its own campus in the beautiful Surrey Hills. With approximately 90 research active staff and students, and a total staff of 150, we believe that MSSL is the UK's largest university space research group. We have the unique capability of designing, building and testing instruments and other spacecraft systems on site. Our research scientists and development engineers work together to ensure the scientific capability of the instruments we produce.

UCL was one of the first universities in the world to become involved in making scientific observations in space. Since the Department was established in 1966, we have participated in over 71 satellite missions with the European Space Agency, NASA (US), Japan, Russia, China and India, and flown over 230 rocket experiments. At present, 6 instruments which MSSL helped build are in operation on 5 Astrophysics missions, namely XMM-Newton, INTEGRAL, Swift, Gaia and Euclid.

The Department is family friendly and applications would be welcome from applicants seeking flexible working hours. The Department was awarded the status of Institute of Physics Juno Practitioner and has participated in the Pilot programme for the Institute of Physics’ new inclusion model that will replace Juno.  The aim of Project Juno is to recognise and reward physics departments, schools, institutes and organisations that can demonstrate they have taken action to address gender equality in physics and to encourage better practice for all staff.  As London’s Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We want our community to represent the diversity of the world’s academic talent, from local to global. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.

About the role
 

This post is for a Lectureship or Associate Professor in Cosmology depending on quality of fit to assessment criteria and on experience and is a permanent position. It will be held within the Astrophysics Group at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory (in the Department of Space and Climate Physics -http://www.ucl.ac.uk/mssl/). The Department is part of the Faculty of Mathematical and Physical Sciences at University College London http://www.ucl.ac.uk Postgraduate taught degrees | UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences - UCL – University College London 

The MSSL Astrophysics Group carries out research in high-energy astrophysics, cosmology, galaxy evolution and exoplanets ( https://ucl.ac.uk/mssl/research/astrophysics-0). The Astrophysics Group consists of 10 academics, 10 postdoctoral researchers and 26 PhD students. The group has a coherent, strategic programme of astronomy research, encompassing cosmology, exoplanets, compact objects, galaxy evolution, gravitational wave physics, particle astrophysics, and artificial intelligence (AI), and has direct involvement in both instrumentation and science exploitation of numerous space missions. In particular, our research exploits the data provided by astrophysics facilities in which we have made a key investment, such as XMM-Newton, Swift, Gaia, Euclid, and PLATO (currently in its build phase), and our scientists also routinely use other space-borne and ground-based to address the science question at hand.

MSSL leads the VISible (VIS) instrument of ESA's Euclid mission. A key requirement of the position will be to maximise the scientific return of Euclid, and of the VIS instrument in particular. This most naturally aligns with a research focus on cosmology, such as weak lensing, but could encompass other fields. While Euclid science will be an immediate priority, the successful candidate will demonstrate a vision for future astrophysical research, including the vision and aspiration to lead future space missions and/or space instrument roles.

When applying for the role, please specify if you are applying for the Lecturer or Associate professor post and tailor your application to the relevant person specification. Specification 1 is for the Lecturer post and 2 is for the Associate professor position.  For any questions, you can contact Obehi Asuelimen- o.asuelimen@ucl.ac.uk

Requirements

The successful applicant will be expected to pursue a vigorous internationally competitive original research programme exploiting data from Euclid VIS and other complementary resources. They will also demonstrate a vision for future astrophysical research at MSSL, including the vision and aspiration to lead future space missions and/or space instrument roles.

When applying for the role, please specify if you are applying for the Lecturer or Associate professor post and tailor your application to the relevant person specification. Specification 1 is for the Lecturer post and 2 is for the Associate professor position.  For any questions, you can contact Obehi Asuelimen- o.asuelimen@ucl.ac.uk