10 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Durham University, England

The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of the UK’s leading Mathematics departments with an outstanding reputation in teaching, research and employability of our students. It has an active programme of internationally recognized research in Pure Mathematics, Mathematical & Theoretical Particle Physics, Applied Mathematics (including Magnetohydrodynamics and Mathematical Biology), Probability and Statistics. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community. The Department currently more than 110 permanent members of academic staff. The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia. The Department also supports the London Mathematical Society Good Practice Scheme, whose aim is to support mathematics departments to embed equal opportunities for women within their working practices.

The Department of Biosciences is composed of 68 academic staff and research fellows; around 50 research and technical support staff; over 90 Research Postgraduate students and over 500 Single Honours undergraduate students. We offer a 3-year BSc degree programme in Biological Sciences and a 4-year MBiol, while also contributing to Natural Sciences. We also run a PGT in Plant Biotechnology with further PGT programmes scheduled for future delivery. Our research and teaching is supported by outstanding research infrastructure in advanced bioimaging (including super-resolution, confocal and electron microscopy), genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, high-performance computing and field research. We promote research at the interface with other disciplines. The Dept. of Biosciences is currently ranked in the top 5 UK Biology Departments in University league tables (4th in the Guardian University Guide, 5th in The Complete University Guide) and has a 100% internationally recognised research environment (REF2021). Our basic science underpins applications across each-and-every sector of the bio-economy, including Biotechnology, Ecology and Agritechnology. Research programmes are grouped in the following areas: Molecular Plant Sciences; Biomolecular Interactions; Ecology, Evolution and Environment; and Animal Cells and Systems. These groups organise focused seminar series, Research Away Days, manage joint research facilities, oversee mentoring, internal peer review and serve to nucleate larger research projects. Along with our excellent research facilities such as bioimaging, proteomics, metabolomics and genomics we offer a high quality and supportive environment for our research staff.

Dynamic and vibrant, Durham University Business School is one of Durham University’s four Faculties and is comprised of three research-intensive departments: Accounting, Economics and Finance, and Management and Marketing. Known for its global reputation, its impact on policy and practice and its strong focus on ethics, responsibility and sustainability, the school aims to be a leading European business school with a strong global presence by 2027. The school currently has 180 academic and teaching staff, with plans and resource commitments to grow to 230 by 2027. In addition, 11 funded research centres (https://www.dur.ac.uk/business/research/research-centres/) blend leading theoretical perspectives with a strong emphasis on impact and engagement with practice, noted in www.durham.ac.uk/business. The school’s student population is around 4000, across undergraduate, postgraduate and research programmes.   Our vision is to lead business thought and practice to improve global wealth and well-being. Our associated mission is to create, share and use knowledge to deliver equitable and sustainable futures around the world. We pursue this mission by advancing world-changing knowledge and securing global impact through increasingly collaborative research across disciplines and around the world. 

The Research Culture Team at Durham University, led by Professor Jane Macnaughton Deputy Pro Vice Chancellor for Research, has been awarded £1 million from the Wellcome Trust for an action research project entitled ‘Reimagining Governance for a Flourishing Research Culture’. The PI is Professor Karen O’Brien, Vice Chancellor, who is keenly engaged in the project’s success, but it will be led by Jane Macnaughton supported by a diverse interdisciplinary team of Co-Is including academic, professional and technical staff.  The project is due to start in January 2024 with a duration of 24 months. This exciting initiative is part of a wider programme of activities to transform research culture at Durham (Flourish@Durham) and it will investigate the effectiveness of our research governance structures across departments, research institutes, and the university itself while launching a series of interventions including Shadow Committees and co-designed pilot projects aimed at improving research governance.   These roles offer an exciting opportunity to make an important contribution to enhancing the research culture of the university, while allowing you excellent opportunities to develop your career in an exciting and progressive institution. Alongside working as part of the research team, you will have the opportunity to continue to develop your career within your home discipline as part of our world-leading academic departments. You will have an appropriate departmental affiliation and opportunities to take part in departmental activities. Durham University is committed to the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and many of our departments hold an Athena SWAN Bronze or Silver award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia.     

Our vision is to lead business thought and practice to improve global wealth and well-being. Our associated mission is to create, share and use knowledge to deliver equitable and sustainable futures around the world. We pursue this mission by advancing world-changing knowledge and securing global impact through increasingly collaborative research across disciplines and around the world.  Our department is part of the triple-accredited Business School, home to academics whose research is internationally renowned for intellectual rigour and for the benefits it brings to the society. We work closely with business partners around the world, sharing insights, supporting innovation, and educating tomorrow’s leaders. More details about our research, teaching, and business connections can be found on our website https://www.durham.ac.uk/business/research/.

The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of the UK’s best mathematics departments with an outstanding reputation in teaching, research and employability of our students. It has an active programme of internationally recognised research in Pure and Applied Mathematics. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community. The Department, which currently has 115 permanent members of staff, is set to grow significantly over the next ten years. The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia. The Department also supports the London Mathematical Society Good Practice Scheme, whose aim is to support mathematics departments to embed equal opportunities for women within their working practices.

The Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) is a large major research group in the Department of Physics at Durham University with approximately seventy staff and research students. CfAI’s mission is to design and develop novel instrumentation based on cutting edge technologies. CfAI develops state-of-the-art ground and space-based instruments for applications across a wide range of disciplines including adaptive optics, spectroscopy, biophysics, remote sensing, laser communications, and fusion diagnostics.  CfAI has provided major instruments for many of the world’s leading astronomical facilities including the James Webb Space Telescope, William Herschel Telescope, Gemini Telescopes, Southern African Large Telescope and the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope. Major current ground-based instrumentation projects in CfAI include HARMONI and MOSAIC, the first-light spectrograph and multi-object spectrograph for the upcoming 39m diameter Extremely Large Telescope.

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate to support a research project exploring academic-industry engagement, science commercialisation, and the development of university-centred entrepreneurial ecosystems. Universities have become increasingly focused on commercialising their knowledge, engaging with industrial partners such as small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and diversifying income streams. At the same time, resource constrained SMEs have realised the opportunities afforded to them in mobilising resources and scaling their ventures by engaging with universities. It is these entrepreneurial/commercial activities at the university-industry (U-I) boundary that support the emergence and development of university-centred entrepreneurial ecosystems (UCEEs). However, whilst academics are encouraged to behave entrepreneurially, this poses several challenges. Likewise, despite industry partners having much to gain from engaging with university academics, they too face challenges in doing so. Unfortunately, despite a broad and emerging literature in the academic entrepreneurship field, our understanding of the processes, particularly at the micro-level, underlying U-I engagement, science commercialisation, and UCEEs remains limited. Accordingly, this research project will investigate U-I engagement activities and science commercialisation at the U-I boundary, and how these activities contribute to UCEE dynamics.

The Department’s research falls within three groupings: Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental Science, and Quantitative Social Psychology. The Department is committed to creating and maintaining a research and teaching environment that spans the entire breadth of Psychology. The Department is well equipped for research in most areas including facilities for fMRI, TMS, EEG, eye tracking, as well as the analysis of visuomotor action and psychophysical performance. The Department also has a motion capture lab, an echo-attenuated chamber and a suite of observation labs.