07 Postdoctoral Fellowship at Durham University, England

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position in cross-cultural developmental psychology with a particular emphasis on examining the role of formal education and cognitive development (e.g., executive functions) on the development of innovation and creativity across cultures. This ESRC and NSF funded research project, Learning to Innovate: Development and Diversity, is led by Dr Bruce Rawlings (Durham University) in collaboration with Prof. Cristine Legare (University of Texas at Austin), alongside a wider international collaboration team. The project will investigate the cognitive processes and educational experiences that support the development of innovation in children across eight geographically and educationally diverse populations. The successful applicant will be based in Durham (UK), and will collect experimental, observational, and survey data, as well as measures of school quality, in Durham, under the supervision of the PI (Bruce Rawlings). Data collection and coding will be supported by research assistants, students, and a project coordinator, also based in Durham. Successful applicants will also oversee data collection at the international field sites by working with international collaborators and local researchers, including Prof Cristine Legare and her team as Co-I on the grant. They will oversee data coding, analysis, and dissemination of results which will include data from all locations.

The position will be centred on adaptive optics systems and laser guide stars for Free Space Optical Communication (FSOC) with satellites. This includes modelling so called “Strong Turbulence” conditions experienced during low elevation satellite links through computer simulation and laboratory experiments. There is a longer term goal of demonstrating the technologies in links through real turbulence with test sources or even real satellites. Further examination of the use of Laser Guide Stars in FSOC will also be performed, leveraging the CfAI’s previous expertise on the topic.

Through this position you will be making a crucial contribution to the development of this international astronomy facility, and the demonstration of an exciting new technology. This role will suit someone who wishes to gain practical experience of taking novel research outputs and developing technologies from them to the level where they can be incorporated into cutting edge scientific instruments. You will be expected to work in close collaboration with other members of CfAI and SPARC as well as our international partners who have a wide range of scientific and engineering backgrounds.

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. The Dept. of Biosciences partners with other areas of research strength in Durham University including Computational Sciences and Chemistry and encourages multidisciplinary research for Health and Wellbeing. The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation and progression. The Department embraces excellence in all of its forms and invites all qualified applicants to apply. We particularly welcome applications from women and black and minority ethnic candidates who are under-represented in the academic sector.

The Department of Engineering is consistently one of the very best UK engineering departments with an outstanding reputation for excellence in teaching, research and employability of our students.  The Department is ranked 4th in the Complete University Guide, 5th in the Guardian University Guide and 6th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2022 in the UK for General Engineering.  Ranked in the top six in the UK for overall profile in REF 2021 (with 95% of publications rated as 4* and 3*), this dynamic Department is an excellent place to work.  The strategic vision for the Department includes a growth plan of over 50% over the next five years, with a significant enhancement of the research challenge portfolio and a drive to enrich our undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research provision.  It is an exciting time to join this expanding Department and make your mark.

The Department of Geography at Durham comprises 65 academic staff (approximately equally divided between Human and Physical geography), a graduate school of around 100 research students, around 40 taught postgraduate students and 850 undergraduates. The Department is well supported with technical staff, including a cartography unit, and administrative staff.

We are ranked 14^th in the QS World University Rankings by Subject (2023). We are recurrently ranked in the top handful of programmes in the UK by various league tables, including 3^rd in the Complete University Guide 2023. The most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) in 2021 placed us joint 1^st in the UK for iGPA (average score scaled by proportion of staff submitted), with a 100% 4* score for our research environment.

Our aim is to sustain and support hubs of leadership in geographical scholarship – broadly conceived. We will maintain our reputation for theoretical and conceptual innovation so that we are shaping and leading debates globally.

We will continue to engage concepts and materials from across disciplinary boundaries to renew geographical scholarship and bring geographical perspectives to bear in other domains. We work across every continent and most major oceans and embrace the full diversity of methods and data available to the discipline.

We are further developing our core undergraduate programmes and will be recruiting world leading staff accordingly to ensure these programmes continue to offer the highest quality of education that develop students with skills to advance scholarly and public debates to which geography is central. The quality of our undergraduate students, and the degree programmes which ensue, combine with our large graduate school to provide a teaching experience for staff that is truly excellent

The successful candidate will join a thriving research team to work within the UK Quantum Technology Research Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing (QuSIT). This interdisciplinary Hub will deliver transformative advancements across sectors including infrastructure, transportation and security. These technologies are based on atomic states and entangled photons to create devices that sense and image otherwise invisible optical wavelengths, radio-frequencies, magnetic and gravitational fields, and exploit precision time.

The QuSIT Hub team believes there is no such thing as a ‘typical’ team member. Diversity is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas and our innovations. We’ll continue to identify and reduce structural barriers to equality and we’ll foster a kind, inclusive community that works for everyone. If you are appointed, we’ll help you to thrive in this role, including providing opportunities such as mentoring, networking and wider skills development within a high-profile research environment. Applicants are expected to demonstrate academic citizenship, develop and maintain mutually respectful and supportive working relationships, and ensure their role impacts positively on others.