Postdoctoral Research Associate in Energy Landscapes

Limited funding: The funds for this post are available for 3 years in the first instance.

Applications are invited for a post-doctoral research associate to work with Professor David Wales in the Chemistry Department in Cambridge, funded by a generous benefaction from Xyme Ltd.

Current research in the Wales group covers all aspects of energy landscapes, including applications to atomic and molecular clusters, biophysics, solids and surfaces, machine learning, quantum computing, and self-consistent fields. We develop new theory and associated computational tools, which are supported and distributed to the community.

The holder of this post will conduct research on energy landscapes projects of current interest to the group, and assist with maintenance of the associated software.

Applicants should have (or be about to receive) a PhD in theoretical chemistry or physics. Expertise in computer simulation and statistical mechanics is essential, particularly experience with the energy landscape exploration codes GMIN, OPTIM and PATHSAMPLE. Expertise in fortran programming is highly desirable.

The post is available from 1st June 2025.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

Please ensure that you upload your Curriculum Vitae (CV), a covering letter and publications list in the upload section of the online application. If you upload any additional documents that have not been requested, we will not be able to consider these as part of your application.

Further information can be obtained from Professor David Wales (email: dw34@cam.ac.uk ).

Please quote reference MA45770 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The Department holds an Athena SWAN silver award for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.