Job Description

Ref Number

B04-06788

Professional Expertise

Research and Research Support

Department

UCL BEAMS (B04)

Location

London

Working Pattern

Full time

Salary

See advert text

Contract Type

Fixed-term

Working Type

Hybrid

Available for Secondment

No

Closing Date

14-Dec-2025

About us

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The Department of Mathematics at UCL is an internationally renowned department within one of the world's most prestigious universities. Since its beginning, mathematics at UCL has been enhanced by its many outstanding members of staff. Indeed, two of its students (and later staff) Professor Klaus Roth (1958) and Professor Alan Baker (1970) have gone on to win the Fields Medal. Another former member of staff, Professor Tim Gowers, won the Fields Medal in 1998 for work he did whilst at UCL.


Since 2011, the department has grown considerably, with over 100 academic and honorary staff members, including fellows of the Royal Society. The department also has approximately 30 Postdoctoral Research Fellows, around 108 PhD students and 50 MSc students. We welcome a regular stream of distinguished visiting academics from home and abroad. The broad range of research interests is reflected in the wide choice of courses available in the third and fourth years of the degree programmes, from spectral theory, groups and geometry to fluid mechanics and from mathematical ideas in biology to cosmology. Research funding in the department from EPSRC, ERC, NERC, Leverhulme Trust and the Wellcome Trust has grown significantly in recent years, more than doubling since 2014.


The department has internationally recognised research groups in pure and applied analysis; fluid mechanics; mathematical physics; geometry and topology; algebra, number theory and combinatorics; mathematical modelling in biology, finance, industry and society. There are regular departmental seminar series in financial mathematics and applied mathematics, as well as seminar series joint with other London universities in number theory, geometry and analysis. There are regular London-Paris meetings in analysis and number theory and a London-Brussels meeting in geometry. The department hosts an annual meeting in the dynamics of rotating fluids.

About the role

------------------


Applications are invited for a full-time Research Fellow position to work with Dr Philip Pearce. The post is funded by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship entitled "Multiscale modelling and control of soft biological matter: Linking biomolecular interactions to macroscopic function". In this project, we will build a mathematical framework to predict how macroscopic properties and functions emerge from molecular and cellular interactions in bacterial biofilms.



The postholder will focus on upscaling techniques, such as asymptotic homogenisation, to build continuum models that capture how biofilm mechanics emerge from the molecular and cellular components of biofilms. We will also develop numerical simulations of the derived equations. There is also an opportunity to work on particle-based simulations, depending on the interest of the postholder. The work will be performed in close collaboration with our experimental and theoretical collaborators, including Tanmay Bharat at the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology, Cambridge, and Mohit Dalwadi at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford.



The responsibilities of the post will include: carrying out vigorous, high-level research into modelling cell populations, developing upscaling techniques to build continuum models for biofilm mechanics, running code to simulate biofilms using continuum methods, and interfacing with other team members and experimental collaborators.



This post is available from 31st March 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter for approximately 36 months in the first instance due to funding restrictions thereafter. Salary will be UCL Grade 7 point 31-34 which is 45,103 - 48,679 per annum inclusive of London Allowance.

About you

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Candidates should either have a PhD or equivalent qualification in Mathematics, Physics, Biophysics, or relevant areas of Computational Biology or Chemistry, or should be finalising their PhD or waiting for their viva date. Please note: Appointment at Grade 7 is dependent on award and confirmation of a PhD (or equivalent).



If this is not the case, the initial appointment will be at Research Assistant Grade 6B, point 25 (salary 38,607 per annum inclusive of London allowance) with payment at Grade 7 being backdated to the date of final submission of the PhD thesis.



The successful candidate should have experience and knowledge of discrete (e.g. cell-based) and/or continuum modelling, ideally in a biological context, as well as an experience of writing, developing and calibrating simulation code. The candidate should have a strong interest in biological research and commitment to high quality research, and excellent interpersonal skills to facilitate participation in a research group, mentoring of PhD students, and communication with experimental collaborators.



They should have the ability to analyse and write up results and to present complex information effectively to a range of audiences and show commitment to UCL's policy of equal opportunity and the ability to work harmoniously with colleagues and students of all cultures and backgrounds. An outstanding candidate will have experience of research on bacterial biofilms and complex biological materials and experience of theoretical methods for upscaling such as asymptotic homogenisation, as well as experience of building mathematical models in close collaboration with experimental biologists.



For a full spectrum of duties and responsibilities as well as essential, and desired criteria please refer to the Further Particulars document attached to this advert. If you have any queries regarding the vacancy or the application process, please contact Anna Rutherford (anna.rutherford@ucl.ac.uk)



Informal enquiries may be addressed to Philip Pearce, email: philip.pearce@ucl.ac.uk



We particularly welcome female applicants and those from an ethnic minority, as they are under-represented within UCL at this level.

What we offer

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As well as the exciting opportunities this role presents, we also offer some great benefits some of which are below:

41 Days holiday (27 days annual leave 8 bank holiday and 6 closure days) Additional 5 days' annual leave purchase scheme Defined benefit career average revalued earnings pension scheme (CARE) Cycle to work scheme and season ticket loan

o Immigration loan o Relocation scheme for certain posts

On-Site nursery On-site gym Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption pay Employee assistance programme: Staff Support Service Discounted medical insurance

Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

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As London's Global University, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation, and we want our community to represent the diversity of the world's talent. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where we all belong.


We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in UCL's workforce. These include people from Black, Asian and ethnic minority backgrounds; disabled people; LGBTQI+ people; and for our Grade 9 and 10 roles, women.


Our department holds an Athena SWAN Silver award, in recognition of our commitment and demonstrable impact in advancing gender equality. You can read more about our commitment to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/equality-diversity-inclusion/.