Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship

The University of Edinburgh - School of Physics and Astronomy

The Opportunity:

The School of Physics and Astronomy is pleased to invite applications for the 2026 Elizabeth Gardner Fellowship. This four-year Fellowship specifically supports early-career, postdoctoral researchers from backgrounds that are under-represented in the School’s academic community (e.g. gender, minority ethnicity, disability, disadvantaged circumstances, etc.).

We are looking for an early-career postdoctoral researcher who is ready to develop their own, independent research in a supportive environment under the guidance of a mentor.

Elizabeth Gardner Fellowships honour the outstanding achievements of Dr Elizabeth Gardner (1957 - 1988). Dr Gardner studied Mathematical Physics at the University of Edinburgh, graduating with first class honours, and was awarded the Tait Medal, Robert Schlapp Prize, and the Class medal. After studying for a PhD at the University of Oxford, she later returned to the School of Physics and Astronomy in 1984 as a Research Fellow. Her works on the optimal storage of neural networks have been selected as two of the most influential papers in the 50th anniversary of Journal of Physics A.

The Fellowship aims to provide a supportive and collegial environment for early-career researchers to develop their research and submit proposals to secure external research funding (e.g. a 5-year Research Fellowship, such as a Royal Society University Research Fellowship; an Ernest Rutherford Fellowship; or a European Research Council fellowship) and, where appropriate, other external research resources such as telescope/facility time.

The post is available either on a full-time or part-time basis and we are open to considering flexible working patterns. We are also open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-campus working.

Your skills and attributes for success:

• Educated to PhD level in an appropriate subject
• Postdoctoral experience within a research environment
• A track record of high-quality research outputs
• Ability to lead and/or take responsibility for independent research; developing research objectives, projects and proposals for individual and collaborative research
• Interest in an area of research of strategic priority to the School

Apply Before: 20/04/2026, 23:59