Postdoctoral Research Associate in Free Space Optical Communications and Adaptive Optics

Working at Durham University

A globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, a warm and friendly place to work, a unique and historic setting - Durham is a university like no other.

As one of the UK's leading universities, Durham is an incredible place to define your career. The University is located within a beautiful historic city, home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and surrounded by stunning countryside. Our talented scholars and researchers from around the world are tackling global issues and making a difference to people's lives.

We believe that inspiring our people to do outstanding things at Durham enables Durham people to do outstanding things in the world. Being a part of Durham is about more than just the success of the University, it's also about contributing to the success of the city, county and community.

Our University Strategy is built on three pillars of research, education and wider student experience, but also on our keen sense of community and of inspiring others to achieve their potential.

Our Purpose and Values

We want our University to be a place where people can be free to be themselves, no matter what their identity or background. Together, we celebrate difference, value one another and are each responsible for creating an inclusive community that is respectful and fair for all.

Find out more about the benefits of working at the University and what it is like to live and work in the Durham area on our Why Join Us? - Information Page

A competitive salary is only one part of the many fantastic benefits you will receive if you join the University: you will also receive access to the following fantastic benefits:

• 30 Days annual leave per year in addition to 8 public holidays and 4 customary days per year - a total of 42 days per year.

• The University closes between Christmas and New Year - please include or delete if not applicable.

• We offer a generous pension scheme, as a new member of staff you will be automatically enrolled into the University Superannuation Scheme (USS).

• No matter how you travel to work, we have you covered. We have parking across campus, a cycle to work scheme which helps you to buy a bike and discount with local bus and train companies.

• There is a genuine commitment to developing our colleagues professionally and personally. There is a comprehensive range of development courses, apprenticeships and access to qualifications and routes to develop your career in the University. All staff have dedicated annual time to concentrate on their personal development opportunities.

• Lots of support for health and wellbeing including discounted membership for our state-of-the-art sport and gym facilities and access to a 24-7 Employee Assistance Programme.

• On site nursery is available and children's clubs in the summer holidays.

• Family friendly policies, including maternity and adoption leave, which are among the most generous in the higher education sector (and likely above and beyond many employers).

• The opportunity to take part in staff volunteering activities to make a difference in the local community

• Discounts are available via our benefits portal including money off at supermarkets, high street retailers, IT products such as Apple, the cinema and days out at various attractions.

• A salary sacrifice scheme is also available to help you take advantage of tax savings on benefits.

• If you are moving to Durham, we can help with removal costs and we have a dedicated team who can help you with the practicalities such as house hunting and schools. If you need a visa, we cover most visa costs and offer an interest free loan scheme to pay for dependant visas.

The Department

The Centre for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) is a large 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.

The centre is currently involved in various laser communications projects, including a world first demonstration of the use of laser guide stars for laser communications, and in modelling and forecasting the turbulence at potential optical ground station sites. CfAI is further expanding its reach in to the fields of free space optical communications, space surveillance and earth observation through the creation of a new interdisciplinary "Space Research Centre" (SPARC).

The Role

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate position in the Space Research group in Durham. The role will be focused on the development and modelling of adaptive optics systems for the application of free space optical communications. The role is initially funded by the newly instituted "Space Research Centre" (SPARC), and collaborative work with other departments in the centre will be performed.

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.

Responsibilities:

• To understand and convey material of a specialist or highly technical nature to the team or group of people through presentations and discussions that leads to the presentation of research papers in conferences, project design reviews and publications.

• To prepare and deliver presentations on research outputs/activities to audiences which may include: research sponsors, academic and non-academic audiences.

• To publish high quality outputs, including papers for submission to peer reviewed journals and papers for presentation at conferences and workshops under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.

• To assist with the development of research objectives and proposals.

• To conduct individual and collaborative research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder.

• To work with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and other colleagues in the research group, as appropriate, to identify areas for research, develop new research methods and extend the research portfolio.

• To deal with problems that may affect the achievement of research objectives and deadlines by discussing with the Principal Investigator or Grant-holder and offering creative or innovative solutions.

• To liaise with research colleagues and make internal and external contacts to develop knowledge and understanding to form relationships for future research collaboration.

• To plan and manage own research activity, research resources in collaboration with others and contribute to the planning of research projects.

• To deliver training in research techniques/approaches to peers, visitors and students as appropriate.

• To be involved in student supervision, as appropriate, and assist with the assessment of the knowledge of students.

• To contribute to fostering a collegial and respectful working environment which is inclusive and welcoming and where everyone is treated fairly with dignity and respect.

• To engage in wider citizenship to support the department and wider discipline.

• To engage in continuing professional development by participation in the undergraduate or postgraduate teaching programmes or by membership of departmental committees, etc. and by attending relevant training and development courses.

This post is fixed term for 2 years to coincide with the duration of our existing funding, with the possibility for extension.

The post-holder is employed to work on a research project which will be led by another colleague. Whilst this means that the post-holder will not be carrying out independent research in his/her own right, the expectation is that they will contribute to the advancement of the project, through the development of their own research ideas/adaptation and development of research protocols.

Successful applicants will, ideally, be in post by 1st January 2025.

Durham University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion

Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are a key component of the University's Strategy and a central part of everything we do. We also live by ourPurpose and Valuesand ourStaff Code of Conduct. At Durham we actively work towards providing an environment where our staff and students can study, work and live in a community which is supportive and inclusive. It's important to us that all colleagues undertake activities that are aligned to both our values and commitment to EDI.

We welcome and encourage applications from those who are currently under-represented in our work force, including people with disabilities and from racially minoritised ethnic groups.

If you have taken a career break or periods of leave that may have impacted on the volume and recency of your research outputs and other activities, such as maternity, adoption or parental leave, you may wish to disclose this in your application. The selection committee will take this into account when evaluating your application.

The University has been awarded the Disability Confident Employer status. If you are a candidate with a disability, we are committed to ensuring fair treatment throughout the recruitment process. We will make adjustments to support the interview process wherever it is reasonable to do so and, where successful, reasonable adjustments will be made to support people within their role.
Person Specification

Essential:

1. Qualifications

• A good first degree in Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science or Physics.

• A PhD (or be close to submission) in any of the above fields.

2. Experience

• Experience in conducting high quality academic research.

• Demonstrable ability to write material of a quality commensurate with publication in highly-ranked journals.

• Demonstrable ability to present research papers at international conferences and communicate complex information to specialists within the wider academic community.

• Experience in the simulation and/or performance characterisation of adaptive optics systems, or in the design, assembly and testing of similar laboratory-based optical systems and experiments.

3. Skills

• Demonstrable ability to work cooperatively as part of a team, including participating in research meetings.

• Ability to work independently on own initiative and to strict deadlines.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

• Competence in written English and technical authoring.

• Demonstrable competence in the use of Python programming language for data analysis and presentation of data products

Desirable:

4. Experience

• Experience in the development of free space optical communications systems

• Experience in the simulation and or performance characterisation of wavefront sensing devices

• Demonstrable ability to develop research proposals and designs in collaboration with other academics.

• Experience of overseeing students with respect to the development of their practical/research skills e.g. acting as a demonstrator; supervising student projects/experiments.

5. Skills

• Demonstrable ability to plan and manage independent research.

How to Apply

To progress to the assessment stage, candidates must evidence each of the essential criteria required for the role in the person specification above. It will be at the discretion of the recruiting panel as to whether they will also consider any desirable criteria, but we would urge candidates to provide evidence for all criteria.

While some criteria will be considered at the shortlisting stage, other criteria may be considered later in the assessment process, such as questions at interview.

Submitting your application

We prefer to receive applications online. We will update you about your application at various points throughout the selection process, via automated emails from our e-recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folder periodically to make sure you have not missed any of our updates.

We prefer to receive applications online via the Durham University Vacancies Site. https://www.dur.ac.uk/jobs/. As part of the application process, you should provide details of 2 (preferably academic/research) referees so that we may seek an employment reference.

Applications are particularly welcome from women and black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the University.

What to Submit

All applicants are asked to submit:

• A CV;

• A covering letter which details your experience, strengths and potential against the essential and desirable requirements set out above.

Contact Information

For informal enquiries please contact Dr Andrew Reeves (andrew.p.reeves@durham.ac.uk) All enquiries will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Contact information for technical difficulties when submitting your application

If you encounter technical difficulties when using the online application form, we prefer you send enquiries by email. Please send your name along with abrief description of the problem you're experiencing toe.recruitment@durham.ac.uk

Alternatively, you may call 0191 334 6801 from the UK, or +44 191 334 6801 from outside the UK. This number operates during the hours of 09.00 and 17.00 Monday to Friday, UK time. We will normally respond within one working day (Monday to Friday, excluding UK public holidays).

Next Steps

Shortlisted candidates will be invited for interview and assessment in November 2024.

In the event that you are unable to attend in person on the date offered, it may not be possible to offer you an interview on an alternative date.

Please note that in submitting your application Durham University will be processing your data. We would ask you to consider the relevant University Privacy Statement Job Applicants/Potential Job Applicants - Durham University which provides information on the collation, storing and use of data.

When appointing to this role the University must ensure that it meets any applicable immigration requirements, including salary thresholds which are applicable to some visas.