Reasons to work with us
For job opportunities and fellowship applications, including deadlines and procedures, see below. For PhD opportunities, please follow the Students tab.
We aim to make the Department a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone. As well as helping you realise your potential and advance your career, we recognise and value the need to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
Equality, Diversity and Disability Support
Information about how the College strives to create a welcoming and equitable workplace: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/equality/
Family friendly policies
Information about how the College promotes a family-friendly workplace: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/human-resources/benefits/supporting-you-and-your-family/
Health and Wellbeing
Information about how the College promotes mental and physical health and wellbeing:
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/health-and-wellbeing/
People and Organisational Development / Post Doctoral and Fellows Development Centre
Information about how the College provides development activities:
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/staff-development/
Juno Transparency and Opportunity Committee
The Committee aims to address the under representation of women and minorities in university physics, and to create a welcoming and inclusive environment in the Department.
https://www.imperial.ac.uk/physics/about/juno/
Further information
Life in London - https://www.imperial.ac.uk/study/living-in-london/
About Imperial https://www.imperial.ac.uk/about/
Job opportunities
Positions will be advertised on this site and on College employment pages
Should you have any queries about the application process please contact the Astrophysics Group Administration office via astro@imperial.ac.uk.
Fellowship opportunities
Candidates wishing to select Imperial Astrophysics as their host institution are advised to contact a member of academic staff in their area of interest to discuss your application. You are encouraged to contact us early for initial discussions to maximise the support we can give you and also because this is a two way process and you need to assess if we’re the right fit for you.
To ensure submission of high quality, competitive proposals, the Department runs a competitive internal selection process with deadlines for Research Communities to submit their supported nominated candidates to the Department. Imperial Astrophysics therefore in turn also has deadlines to consider and select our supported candidates into this process. Requests received after these dates will not be considered.
The Physics Department is committed to being a welcoming and supportive environment for everyone and has put in place a number of measures to promote a collaborative and stimulating culture. Individuals who identify as female and those who consider themselves as underrepresented are particularly encouraged to apply.
We are committed to equality of opportunity, to eliminating discrimination and to creating an inclusive working environment for all. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender reassignment, sex or sexual orientation. Further information about how the College strives to create and support an equitable workplace can be found here.
We want to make our application process as inclusive and accessible as possible so if you experience any barriers that we may have overlooked please tell us and we can make adjustments.
If you are approved to submit a formal application the Department will assist you throughout the application process. We set internal submission deadlines which are substantially earlier than the sponsor deadlines to allow for sufficient preparation and approval time, you will be advised of this.
The Imperial Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre provides a host of ongoing support from preparing the application to mock interviews available to anyone who is applying through Imperial. You are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this support in conjunction with that from your host Research Group. For more information applicants should read the guidance on their webpages and contact pfdc-support@imperial.ac.uk.
We’ve successfully supported many research fellowship applications. See Summary of started researcher fellowships in Summary of started researcher fellowships in Astrophysics from 1 August 2013
The common schemes we participate in are listed below. For a currently closed calls the last nomination deadline is given as an indication of when the next might be.
Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellow, a Program of Schmidt Futures
- Closed.
- This scheme is managed by Imperial.
- Department quota - none
- College deadline was 20th September 2024
- This scheme is applied for through the Imperial recruitment system Talentlink, You must have an Imperial mentor to apply but the Department shortlisting is done after the application deadline.
Imperial College Research Fellowships
- Closed.
- Physics only accepted applications for ICRFs supported by Schmidt Futures under the AI in Science theme.
- Community quota: two
- Nominations to Astrophysics was 13th August 2024
- College deadline was 19 August 2024.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Closed
- Department quota – none.
- Confirmation to the Department (via phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk) and ECAS Part A completed was 4th September 2024.
- Imperial participates in the standard European Fellowship mode of the MSCA PF scheme but does not participate in the Global Fellowships mode.
- Check the Imperial's EU Team webpage with advice and information to help applicants. Some areas of the webpage require an Imperial login, ask your sponsor to share the information. You can also contact the team with questions mscapostdocfellowships@imperial.ac.uk
Royal Astronomical Society Fellowships
- Open
- Department quota – five.
- Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
- Confirmation to the Department (via phys-ra@imperial.ac.uk) copied to your sponsor by 1st November 2024.
- RAS deadline 15th November 2024.
Royal Commission 1851 Research Fellowships
- Open
- Department quota – five
- Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
- Department nomination deadline 2nd December 2024.
- Nominations consist of CV, publications list and an EOI form (Imperial Physics Request for Support - 1851 Commission).
Royal Society Career Development Fellowships
- Open
- Department quota – none
- Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
- Department nomination deadline 21st October 2024.
- Nominations consist of CV, publications list and a one page outline.
Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowships
- Closed
- Department quota – none
- Department Nomination deadline was 29th August 2024
- Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and an EOI form (Imperial Physics Request for Support - Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship).
Royal Society Newton Fellowships
- Open (call opens 23rd January 2025)
- Department quota – five
- Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
- Nominations to the Department close 2nd February 2025.
- Nominations consist of your CV, publications list and a EOI form (Imperial-Physics-Request-for-support- Royal Society Newton Fellowship).
Royal Society URF
- Closed
- Department quota – twelve
- Please contact a member of staff in your areas of interest.
- Nominations to the Community closed 27th June 2024.
- Nominations to the Department consisted of your CV, publication list and a Request for support URF 2024
STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowships
- Closed
- Department quota set by STFC – seven
- Nominations to the Community closed 27th June 2024.
- Nominations to the Department consist of your CV, publication list and a Request for Support from Request for Support ERF 2024
UK Research and Innovation Future Leaders Fellowships
- Round 8 was only open to Imperial Physics academic/proleptic staff
- College deadline was 17thApril 2023
PhD studentshipstog#]
Link to admissions page: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/astrophysics/students-and-prospective-students/
UROP opportunities
We offer a small number of UROP projects per year in a variety of areas. These summer vacation placements will be funded. Note that after summer 2023 the Department of Physics will no longer allow UROPs to take place where no bursary has been organised.
Register your interest in a UROP placement in the group
Useful links
- Imperial College Job search tools advertise all PDRA positions within the Astrophysics Group
- AAS jobs register advertises worldwide jobs in astronomy and cosmology
- Department of Physics fellowship opportunities details a comprehensive list of fellowships supported by Imperial College, including how to apply