Research Fellow in Transient Astrophysics, University of Southampton (TRANSCEND, Ref. 3507026WF)
Job Description
This research fellow post in transient astrophysics at the University of Southampton is funded by TRANSCEND, a five-year STFC Large Award studying stellar explosions, the growth of supermassive black holes and dark energy.
At a glance
- Position: Research Fellow (postdoctoral research associate), full time, fixed term for 5 years
- Where: School of Physics and Astronomy, Southampton, United Kingdom
- Pay: £36,636 to £44,746 a year
- Starts: 1 April 2027
- Reference: 3507026WF
- Apply by: 6 November 2026, 23:59 UK time
About the role: transient astrophysics with LSST and TiDES
The Southampton part of TRANSCEND is about the galaxies that transients live in. The advertised work is to derive host-galaxy properties from LSST photometry combined with TiDES spectroscopy, and to study how transient populations correlate with their environments. That places the post at the point where two very large surveys meet, and where the bottleneck is usually software rather than telescope time, which is why the advertisement asks for strong Python rather than observing experience alone.
Eligibility
The university asks for a PhD, or equivalent professional qualifications and experience, in astrophysics, physics, cosmology or a related field, or to be near completion. Strong Python programming is required. Research experience in one or more of time-domain astrophysics, supernovae, galaxy evolution, cosmology and survey science is listed, together with good communication and the ability to work as part of a collaboration.
Salary and duration
The post is full time and fixed term for five years, starting on 1 April 2027, on a salary of £36,636 to £44,746 a year. A five-year appointment is unusually long for a postdoctoral position and reflects the length of the STFC award behind it.
How to apply
Applications are made through the university’s recruitment site and the advertisement asks for a CV, a publication list and a two-page research statement. Read the full advert and apply on the official University of Southampton vacancy page. More research fellowships are listed on ResearchJobs.in.
Hiring institution: University of Southampton
Official advertisement: jobs.soton.ac.uk
How to prepare for the Southampton application
- Use the two-page research statement to connect your own work to host-galaxy science, not to summarise your thesis. The panel already has your CV.
- Know what TiDES is and how it relates to 4MOST and LSST. Getting the survey landscape right is the quickest way to show you have read the advert properly.
- Show Python that handles scale: catalogue cross-matching, SED fitting, pipeline code. A notebook of plots is not the same thing.
- The start date is April 2027 and the term is five years, so think in advance about what you would want to have finished by year three.
- UK posts of this kind normally require the right to work in the UK; check your position on visas before you invest time in the application.
About the University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a research university on the south coast of England and a member of the Russell Group. This post is in the School of Physics and Astronomy, which hosts a substantial astronomy group working on time-domain and multi-wavelength astrophysics.
