Career Development Research Fellowship (Post-Doctoral Fellowship) in the Mathematical Sciences, 2025

This Career Development Research Fellowship (CDRF) in Mathematical Sciences is a full-time, four-year research position with effect from 1st October 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter. It is open to early career researchers who have recently completed or are close to completing a doctorate (and will have submitted their thesis no later than three months before the start date of the post), or who have recently been awarded a doctorate. It offers an outstanding opportunity to establish a research profile as a member of a collegiate community and the wider University of Oxford. Applications for this post are particularly welcome from women and Black and minority ethnic candidates, who are under-represented in academic posts in the mathematical sciences in Oxford.

Duties

The primary obligation of this Fellowship is to engage in full-time research in the mathematical sciences and its dissemination. The successful candidate is expected to propose, plan, and deliver a high-quality programme of original research; publicise the outcomes of that research through conference presentations and publications; and engage in the life and activities of the College.

The CDRF will join the vibrant mathematical science community at St John’s College. This includes the teaching fellows for the College (Tutorial Fellows Professors Christopher Beem, Jan Obłoj, and Stuart White; Supernumerary Teaching Fellow Dr Nick Jones), who work closely with Professor Stefan Kiefer (Tutorial Fellow in Computer Science), together with Professors Heather Harrington, Phillip Maini, Simon Myers, and James Maynard. The College has a large body of graduate students undertaking DPhils at the Mathematical Institute and the Department of Statistics, and typically a cohort of around 40 undergraduate students studying Mathematics, Mathematics and Statistics, or Mathematics and Computer Science. While a full-time employee of St John’s College, it is anticipated that the CDRF will have an intellectual home at the Mathematical Institute or the Department of Statistics at the University of Oxford, joining one or more of the research groups in these departments. We encourage potential applicants to become familiar with the breadth of research in the mathematical sciences undertaken at Oxford.

While the principal focus of the post will be on the postholder’s programme of research, they will also be asked to undertake a small amount of teaching for the College. This will typically involve giving an average of three to four “tutorials” in each week of term, usually to pairs of undergraduate students on courses from the first two years of the Mathematics and Statistics degree programme that are related to the expertise of the CDRF. The postholder will also participate in our undergraduate admissions exercise and contribute towards our state school mathematics and computer science study day. The expectation is that over the academic year these activities will occupy around 10% (0.1 FTE) of the CDRF’s working time. The aim is to offer the individual postholder broader development opportunities and integration with the academic life of the subject in College and at Oxford. Additional details on tutorial teaching can be found at the end of these Further Particulars.

Applications are welcomed from candidates who can demonstrate research excellence in any area of the mathematical sciences.
Applications should be made electronically through https://fellowships.sjc.ox.ac.uk/: