Research Fellow

About the job

The Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, together with the University of Oxford, Lancaster University, and the University of Southampton, is seeking to appoint one Postdoctoral Research Associate at each institution as part of the five-year STFC Large Award "TRANSCEND". The TRANSCEND collaboration will use Vera Rubin/LSST transient data and the 4MOST Time-Domain Extragalactic Survey (TiDES) to address pressing questions in modern astrophysics: how stars explode and drive chemical enrichment, how supermassive black holes grow, and the true nature of Dark Energy. Each Postdoctoral Research Associate will lead one of the following areas:

• Transient physical properties and the black hole mass function of tidal disruption events (Queen's University Belfast): measure key parameters such as luminosity and nickel masses for thousands of transients from TiDES + follow-up data to build population demographics, and use hundreds of live TDEs and thousands of host galaxies to derive scaling relations and occupation fractions for SMBHs.
• SNe Ia cosmology groundwork or rare transient follow-up and characterization (University of Oxford): use over 30,000 spectroscopically confirmed SNe Ia and 150,000 host-galaxy redshifts to improve SNe Ia standardisation and lay the groundwork for using SN cosmological measurements. Alternatively, focus on work on follow-up and modelling of rare transients.
• Host galaxies of transients (University of Southampton): derive host-galaxy properties from LSST+TiDES photometric and spectroscopic data, and use the unprecedented LSST+TiDES transient sample to study how transients correlate with their environments and measure rates of different classes of transient.
• Simulations and selection effects for SN Ia cosmology and beyond (Lancaster University): lead the forward-modelling of the combined LSST+TiDES sample, and characterize its associated sample selection effects. This project will include building galaxy population catalogues validated against state-of-the-art cosmological simulations (e.g. Illustris-TNG). This simulation effort will be the foundation underpinning every rate, host-galaxy and cosmological result in TRANSCEND.

All Postdoctoral Research Associates are full-time posts funded for 5 years from 1st April 2027. This advertisement is for the post at QUB specifically; separate applications are required to each university for the other three posts. Applicants are encouraged to apply for more than one post as all four researchers will be expected to work closely together, through regular collaboration visits, to maximise the overall scientific outcomes of TRANSCEND. Please state your order of preference (topic and institution) in each application.

About the person

A successful application will clearly demonstrate

• A PhD in astrophysics or a closely related discipline, either awarded or submitted by the time of taking up the post
• Research experience in live transient classification and follow-up
• Track record in analysing light curves and spectra of transients
• Experience in working with very large datasets
• Expertise in tidal disruption events and/or related transient classes
• Excellent communication and ability to work collaboratively
• Experience in programming and using standard astronomy software packages

You are required to submit your full CV, including publication list, and a two-page research statement evidencing how your experience meets the criteria. This must be collated into one file for uploading. If applying for more than one TRANSCEND postdoc, you may submit the same application to each institution, but you must apply separately to every position you wish to be considered for.

This is not an exhaustive list. To be successful at shortlisting stage, please ensure you clearly evidence in your application how you meet the essential and, where applicable, desirable criteria listed in the Candidate Information.

Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but in particular circumstances may be renewed or made permanent subject to availability of funding.

What we offer

Beyond a competitive salary, the University offers an attractive benefits package including a holiday entitlement of up to 8.4 weeks a year, pension schemes and development opportunities. We support staff wellbeing with flexible working options, work-life balance initiatives and support for physical and mental health. You can find more detail on all of this and more at https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/HumanResources/pay-reward-and-benefits/.

Queen's University is committed to promoting equality of opportunity to all. We subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as the Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena Swan and have established staff networks such as iRise (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic and International Staff Network) and PRISM (LGBTQ+) which help us progress equality. For further information on our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, please visit www.qub.ac.uk/diversity.

If you are an international applicant and don't already hold a visa that permits you to take up the role you are applying for, please use the information provided on our website to self-assess whether the University is likely to be able to support a visa application - http://go.qub.ac.uk/internationalstaffsupport.

Candidate Information