Research Fellow in Transient Astrophysics

Overview

The Astronomy Group in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Southampton is recruiting a Research Fellow in Transient Astrophysics, based at the Highfield Campus. The post is one of three postdoctoral positions, at Southampton, Lancaster University and the University of Oxford, within TRANSCEND, a five-year STFC Large Award. TRANSCEND is a collaboration between Queen's University Belfast, Lancaster, Oxford and Southampton that will use Vera Rubin/LSST transient data and the 4MOST Time-Domain Extragalactic Survey (TiDES) to study how stars explode and drive chemical enrichment, how supermassive black holes grow, and the true nature of Dark Energy.

The Southampton post leads the area on host galaxies of transients. The postholder will derive host-galaxy properties from LSST and TiDES photometric and spectroscopic data, use the large transient sample to study how transients relate to their environments, and measure transient rates to uncover the physical origins of stellar deaths. Each postholder will also have chances to follow up interesting transients, will be encouraged to pursue projects that maximise the science from TiDES, and will give part of their time to TiDES infrastructure work. The three researchers will work closely through regular collaboration visits.

Requirements

Applicants need a PhD, or be near completion, in astrophysics, physics, cosmology or a related field, strong scientific programming skills in Python, and research experience in time-domain astrophysics, supernovae, galaxy evolution, cosmology or survey science. Excellent communication and teamwork skills are expected.

What you get

The full-time post is funded for five years from 1 April 2027, with pay of £36,636 to £44,746 per annum.

How to apply

Applications need a CV, a publication list and a two-page research statement describing past research and its relevance to the TRANSCEND science goals. Applicants are encouraged to apply for more than one of the three posts and should state their order of preference, by topic and institution, in the research statement. Applications are accepted until 11:59 pm UK time on the closing date.

Key dates

The closing date is 6 November 2026. The interview date is to be confirmed.