Further Particulars
University of Bath
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Scientific Computing
Lectureship: starting from £38,511 rising to £45,954
Senior Lectureship/Readership: starting from £47,328 rising to £54,841.
Closing Date: 12th November 2014
Interviews will take place in the period 11th-12th December 2014
Applications are invited for a position in Scientific Computing at either Lecturer
(Assistant Professor), or Senior Lecturer/Reader (Associate Professor) level.
We seek applicants with a strong grounding in both mathematics and high
performance computing and with a keen interest in parallelisation and novel
architectures, who would be able to complement and interact with one or more of the
existing areas of expertise at Bath. These include: Differential Equations,
Continuum Mechanics, Dynamical Systems & Complexity, Industrial Applied
Mathematics, Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Control Theory, Numerical
Analysis, Networks & Collective Behaviour, Probability, Statistics.
A successful applicant at Senior Lecturer or Reader Level will have a strong track
record of independent research of international standing. At Lecturer level a
successful applicant will have shown (at least) exceptional potential for achieving
such research excellence.
The appointee will be expected to sustain a leading research programme, and to be
active in developing and submitting competitive applications for external funding, as
well as to pursue collaborations with non-academic partners and researchers in
other disciplines.
Candidates should also have a strong interest in pursuing excellence in
undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and in supervising graduate students.
Both the Department and the University are committed to providing a supportive and
inclusive working environment. We are working to improve the present gender
balance within the Department, and particularly welcome applications from women.
In addition to completing the online application form, candidates should upload (i) a
full Curriculum Vitae, (ii) a research plan of up to 3 pages showing how your work will
complement and enhance existing work in Scientific Computing in the Dept of
Mathematical Sciences at Bath and (iii) a one-page outline of teaching strategy, as
well as the names and addresses of at least three referees. Please use the online
application portal at https://www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/
from which further particulars
and conditions of service are also available.
Informal enquiries may be addressed to Professor Rob Scheichl
(R.Scheichl@bath.ac.uk, +44 (0)1225 386034), or the Head of Department,
Professor Ivan Graham (I.G.Graham@bath.ac.uk, +44 (0)1225 386343)
Applied Mathematics, Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing at Bath
Applied Mathematics at Bath has expanded significantly in recent years, and, since
August 2011, has appointed nine new academic staff at all levels. The Numerical
Analysis Group has been one of the strongest groups in the UK in the field for many
years with a keen interest in all aspects of numerical algorithms and their analysis, as
well as in scientific and high performance computing and their application in various
engineering and industrial applications. Most recently the group has also established
itself as one of the leading UK centres for Uncertainty Quantification with an
international profile.
There is a strong tradition of rigorous applied mathematics including interaction with
pure mathematics in PDEs and there is a growing collaboration between applied
mathematics (particularly numerical and applied analysis) and probability and
statistics.
Together we have recently successfully attracted EPSRC funding for a new Centre
for Doctoral Training in Statistical Applied Mathematics (SAMBa) to train students at
the interface between applied mathematics and statistics/probability, to engage
students with industrial and interdisciplinary problems and thus to equip them to
tackle key societal and industrial challenges related to big data, uncertainty
quantification, or large-scale stochastic modelling and simulation. We would
particularly welcome applications from candidates that can strengthen this centre.
The Department hosts four interdisciplinary centres of the University of Bath: the
Centre for Mathematical Biology http://www.bath.ac.uk/cmb , which involves
collaboration between mathematicians, biologists, and other researchers from
across the University; the Centre for Nonlinear Mechanics http://www.bath.ac.uk/cnm
which facilitates collaboration between applied mathematics, numerical analysis and
areas of application; the Centre for Networks and Collective Behaviour
http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/centres/cncb , a university-wide collaboration, centred
in Applied Mathematics; as well as the Probability Laboratory at Bath
http://www.maths.bath.ac.uk/~ak257/pab/pab.html
hosted by our internationally
leading probability group.
The Department of Mathematical Sciences
The Department, which currently consists of about 59 academic members of staff,
carries out internationally excellent mathematical research. The research groups of
the Department as a whole are: Algebra & Geometry, Analysis & Differential
Equations, Continuum Mechanics, Dynamical Systems & Complexity, Industrial
Applied Mathematics, Mathematical Biology, Mathematical Control Theory, Numerical
Analysis, Probability, Statistics.
The Department’s mission is to advance and promote knowledge of mathematics and
its applications. We have a unified vision of the mathematical sciences, embracing
pure and applied mathematics, probability and statistics and their intradisciplinary
interactions. We have fostered strong intradisciplinary connections, such as (i) the
theory of partial differential equations with their applications to continuum mechanics,
mathematical biology, mathematical control theory and numerical analysis, (ii)
statistical modelling and probability theory with numerical analysis and (iii) analysis
with geometry.
In our multidisciplinary and industrially applied research, we foster synergies between
research teams, while simultaneously emphasising mathematical rigour underpinning
the applications. Many projects have been supported by industry, such as our longrunning collaboration with the Met Office, which combines activity in stochastic
processes, continuum mechanics, and scientific computing. Our research has
environmental and economic impact in areas as diverse as forestry and fisheries,
energy distribution and radioactive waste disposal, weather forecasting and climate
modelling, surgery for cleft lip, and clinical trial design.
The Department provides a stimulating and supportive research environment. We
appoint high-calibre staff whose expertise complements and extends our research
profile and we provide mentoring for new appointees appropriate to their career
stage.
Since the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the University of Bath has
implemented several strategic investment initiatives. From these, the Department
obtained a Professor in Pure Mathematics, two Readers in Applied Mathematics and
Statistics, and three Prize Fellows (permanent academic posts with an initial two-year
research period). We have also made strong replacement appointments for all staff
that have left. In the last six years, the overall expansion of staff numbers in the
Department was 25%. We expect further expansion as our recruitment of high-quality
undergraduates continues to rise.
In 2010, the Department moved into a new five-storey building at the heart of the
campus, providing bright new staff offices, space for collaborative discussion, and
accommodation for support staff. There is also a custom-built lecture room with
adjacent social and exhibition space which is used extensively for seminars,
meetings and workshops organised by Department members.
More details of the research activities of the Department, and in particular of Applied
Mathematics, is given at http://www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/research
Specific information about Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing can be
found at http://www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/research/numerical-analysis
Undergraduate Teaching
Undergraduate teaching activities of the Department encompass various degree
programmes
at Bachelor and Master level, and service teaching to other
departments. Applications are currently buoyant and the department recruits close to
300 very well prepared students each year to its ambitious undergraduate
programme. The popularity of the degree programme is enhanced by the availability
of options which combine advanced studies in Mathematical Sciences with a year
either in industry or spent studying abroad. The MMath programme offers four years
training in Mathematical Sciences in which students can choose a wide range of
options in pure and applied mathematics and statistics and probability, as well as
units from other departments. A new MMath with industrial placement option has
recently been added to the degree scheme.
Postgraduate Programmes
Departmental postgraduate taught provision includes established Masters
Programmes in `Mathematical Sciences' and `Modern Applications of Mathematics',
which includes a Mathematical Biology stream. Postgraduate research is vibrant with
an expanding PhD population, currently standing at more than 60. The Department
pioneered the Doctoral College route to PhD in which students must pass 6
assessed graduate level mathematics courses during the first 18 months of 3.5
years’ funded study. This broadens and deepens postgraduate provision, providing
formal training in areas not necessarily directly related to the student’s research. This
initiative has been strengthened by the EPSRC-supported Taught Course Centre
involving the universities of Bath, Bristol, Imperial College, Oxford and Warwick.
These five universities share video-linked graduate mathematics courses using an
Access Grid node at each university.
Most notably, the department has recently been awarded one of only ten EPSRC
Centres for Doctoral Training related to mathematical research. The centre is called
SAMBa, Statistical Applied Maths at Bath, and it aims to train a new breed of
mathematical researchers at the interface between Applied Mathematics and
Statistics/Probability, to engage students with industrial and interdisciplinary problems
and thus to equip them to tackle key societal and industrial challenges related to big
data, uncertainty quantification, or large-scale stochastic modelling and simulation. To
achieve this we have designed an innovative, student-centred approach at graduate
teaching that we would expect the successful applicant to contribute to and to help
make a success. For more details about SAMBa see
http://www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/postgraduate/cdt/
Further details of our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes can be found at
http://www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/admissions/
Career Development for New Staff
New lecturers, in particular Early Career Researchers, are given minimal
administration and reduced teaching loads (normally one small course in the first
year), and receive priority in studentship allocation and travel funding. Each is
assigned a mentor to provide support in all aspects of work, including the
development and implementation of a personal research strategy. Further support is
provided by the Staff Development Performance Review system. Probationary staff
take the Bath Course on Enhancing Academic Practice which includes units on
research management. The University’s Research Development Support Office
assists with the preparation of First Grant bids, which all eligible staff are expected to
make. The Faculty of Science provides start-up funds for selected projects of recent
appointees.
The University Research Development and Support Office provides assistance
with research proposals and knowledge transfer, and the Academic Staff
Development programme offers relevant training, for example in IT, research
supervision and management
The University of Bath
The University, founded in 1966, is regularly placed among the top dozen in the UK
by national newspaper guides. Its buildings, including one newly constructed to
house Mathematical Sciences and opened in 2010, are set in an attractive hill-top
site about a mile from the centre of Bath, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage City,
which has fine amenities. The campus is safe and friendly for students and has firstclass sports facilities.The university was named by The Sunday Times as the
“University of the Year” for 2011-12. For more information on the University and on
the City of Bath see
http://www.bath.ac.uk/
http://www.bath.ac.uk/about/city/.
Conditions of service
See the website at http://www.bath.ac.uk/jobs/.