Starting Date: 1st October 2026 (or up until 31st March 2027 subject to negotiation)

Tenure: Up to five years

Salary: £46,735 to £59,139 per annum

The Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) will offer to support up to four applications (our quota) for the STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship scheme.

Ernest Rutherford Fellowships are highly competitive. They enable early career researchers with clear leadership potential to establish a strong, independent research programme. They are intended for early career researchers who do not hold a permanent academic position. Applicants must hold a PhD qualification or have relevant experience and clear leadership potential.

Potential applicants should first contact a member of DAMTP academic staff in an appropriate area to discuss the possibility of submitting a pre-application to the DAMTP selection committee which will review requests. They should contact gr-secretary@damtp.cam.ac.uk if they have any difficulty identifying an appropriate member of staff or have any questions about the selection process.

Once applicants have identified a member of DAMTP academic staff to sponsor their application, a pre-application may be made by submitting:

• CV
• Publication list
• A completed Expression of Interest form
• An online Equality, Diversity and Inclusion questionnaire (optional)

The CV, publication list and Expression of Interest form should be sent to gr-secretary@damtp.cam.ac.uk with attachments as pdf or Word document format files.

Applicants must also ask a referee external to Cambridge to submit a reference letter to the above email address. In addition they must arrange for the DAMTP academic staff member to send a statement of support.

Pre-applications and reference letters must be received no later than 7th July 2025. We expect to inform all applicants of the outcome no later than 17th July.

Successful candidates will be provided with support and advice to develop their application before submission to STFC and will be further supported if selected for interview by STFC.

As per STFC guidelines, candidates will not be put under any pressure to accept an offer to be hosted before 18th July. This is to ensure candidates who submit pre-applications to multiple host organisations are given time to make an informed decision regarding which one to accept.

The STFC closing date for submission of applications is 4pm BST on 1st October 2025.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society. We particularly welcome applications from women and/or candidates from a BAME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department.

Expression of interest application deadline is 7th July 2025