Research Fellow in Computational Non-Adiabatic Photochemistry

UCL - Chemistry Department

Location: London

Salary: £43,981 to £52,586

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 15th October 2025

Closes: 14th November 2025

Job Ref: B04-06669

The Chemistry Department at University College London is the oldest in England, and today is one of the best in the UK, being ranked 3rd in the UK for its world-leading research in REF2021. We are located in Bloomsbury, at the heart of London, and offer an exciting and vibrant environment in which to study in one of the UK's top universities.

The Department of Chemistry at UCL is committed to supporting excellence in both research and teaching. The department offers undergraduate BSc and MSci programmes in Chemistry and currently teaches ~750 undergraduates registered in Chemistry as well as students who select Chemistry on the Natural Sciences programme and first year Chemistry for life scientists. The department also offers a number of Postgraduate Taught Masters courses with about 80 students per year and has an overall PGR student school of about 200 students.

The Chemistry Department has over 60 members of academic staff carrying out world-leading research. We specialise in the areas of organic synthesis, chemical biology, computational chemistry, nanotechnology, inorganic and materials chemistry, physical chemistry and chemical physics. The department has an annual research income of around £15 million, derived from many sources including the Research Councils (EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, and NERC), European Commission and a wide range of charities and industrial partners in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Details about our research can be found on the departmental website http://www.ucl.ac.uk/chemistry

The post is part of the COSMOS Programme Grant, a multi-site research project funded by the EPSRC. The project also involves groups at Bristol, Oxford, Newcastle, Leeds and Warwick and aims to develop computational methods to study photo-initiated molecular dynamics. The project also has a focus on linking the simulations to experimental observables of relevance to time-resolved experiments using lasers and new light sources.

The postholder will be required to carry out research into:

• Developing and implementing Quantum Dynamics algorithms for non-adiabatic.
• Studying the photo-activated non-adiabatic photochemistry of prototypical chromophores.
• Simulating measurable signals from time-resolved spectroscopy.

The successful candidate will have a PhD degree (or be about to be awarded a PhD) in Chemistry, Physics, or similar subject. A knowledge of quantum mechanics and quantum chemical methods for excited state calculations is required, as well as experience with HPC and programming. Experience with Fortran Programming is desirable. They will be expected to work in a highly multidisciplinary collaborative team, and have effective verbal and written communication skills in English.