"Research Fellow"

Research Fellow

University of Birmingham - College of Engineering and Physical Sciences - School of Physics and Astronomy

Placed On: 5th February 2026 | Closes: 24th February 2026 | Job Ref: 106958

Salary: Full time starting salary is normally in the range £36,636 to £46,049 with potential progression once in post to £48,822. Grade 7

Contract Type: Fixed Term contract up to September 2028

To create and contribute to the creation of knowledge by undertaking a specified range of activities within the field of theoretical condensed matter physics.

Applications are open for a research fellow position in the research group led by Bruno Bertini at the University of Birmingham. The duration is two years with the possibility of extension. The group’s research is operating in the area of quantum statistical physics with specific focus on non-equilibrium quantum many-body dynamics. Specific topics of interest include dynamics in quantum circuits and quantum cellular automata, many-body quantum chaos, quantum integrability, (generalised) hydrodynamics, quantum information scrambling, entanglement measures, tensor-network theory. The ideal candidate has either analytical or computational skills (exact diagonalisation or tensor network techniques) and research experience in either many-body quantum physics, statistical mechanics, statistical field theory, quantum-information theory, or quantum computing.

The School of Physics and Astronomy is a world-leading physics department, excelling in both research and teaching. It hosts over 130 academic and research staff, around 50 technical and support staff, and over 130 graduate students. Our physics research was recently ranked top in the UK for 4-star-category research by the national Research Excellence Framework 2021 exercise. The 2016 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Professor Mike Kosterlitz and Professor David Thouless jointly for their work into the discoveries of the properties of matter, work which started when they were at Birmingham together. The 2017 Prize was awarded for the detection of gravitational waves, in which Birmingham staff played a key role.

Please attach a CV and contact details for two referees to your application.

Role Summary

• Work within specified research grants and projects and contribute to writing bids
• Operate within area of specialism
• Analyse and interpret research findings and results

Main Duties

The responsibilities may include some but not all of the responsibilities outlined below.

• Develop research objectives and proposals for own or joint research, with assistance of a mentor if required
• Contribute to writing bids for research funding
• Analyse and interpret data
• Apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding
• Disseminate research findings for publication, research seminars etc

Person Specification

• Ph.D. (or equivalent) in physics or mathematics or being near to completion
• Ability to creatively apply relevant research approaches, models, techniques and methods
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex information with clarity

Informal enquiries to Bruno Bertini

To download the full job description and details of this position and submit an electronic application online please click on the 'Apply' button above.