An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Safety and Estates Officer to join the Department of Space and Climate Physics (Mullard Space Science Laboratory), University College London (UCL).  The role will specialise in overseeing Health and Safety within the Department, both at the main site in Holmbury St Mary and at the departmental offices in London.  

 

The post holder will ensure that safe working practices are followed and that the Departmental facilities support the short, medium and long term goals of the Department.  The post holder will also oversee the maintenance of the buildings and the grounds of the Department, act as the point of contact for building works and contractors, and prepare submissions for project requests, liaising with Estates.  

 

This is a permanent, full-time position.

 

The Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London (UCL), seeks to appoint a motivated Research Fellow in Exoplanet Characterisation. The appointment will be for three years in the first instance (the grant ends on 31st March 2025) to work in the research group led by Dr Vincent Van Eylen, Associate Professor in Exoplanets.

 

 Part-time applications will be considered. The starting date is flexible with the earliest starting date in April 2022. 

 

The successful candidate will be expected to conduct exciting research related to “understanding planets through their host stars”, a project funded by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). They will address major open questions, such as what happens to exoplanet systems as their host stars evolve off the main sequence and become sub-giant and red giant stars, and seek to understand the evolution of planetary systems over time. To do so, they will determine the occurrence of planets orbiting evolved stars and compare that to their main sequence counterparts, capitalising on novel observations by the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). 

 

Understanding the precise characteristics and evolutionary stage of the host stars is a crucial part of the picture, and the successful candidate will seek to bring together stellar characterisation, leveraging information from e.g., asteroseismology and Gaia observations, and exoplanet science. In doing so they will be in an ideal position to maximise the science gain from the upcoming ESA PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission. The candidate is encouraged and expected to develop and pursue independent research ideas related to the detection and characterisation of transiting exoplanets with TESS and exoplanet science in a broader sense.