Senior Research Officer

Department

The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Essex has experienced an implosive growth in the last three years, nearly tripling the number of permanent academic staff, while rising its research profile. The newly created research theme in Algebra, Geometry and Discrete Mathematics counts with 8 staff members and a number of PhD students. It sits within the research group in mathematics, which hosts a weekly seminar. The successful candidate will be appointed a mentor (other than the PI) within the School for guidance and support throughout the project. The University will provide office space for the PDRA for the accomplishment of project deliverables. The university offers all newly appointed early-career researchers participation in the Essex Newcomers Research Week, a 20 hours programme of research support and training in transferable skills.

Duties of the Role

The Calabi problem for smooth Fano threefolds is an EPSRC-funded collaboration in algebraic geometry between the University of Essex, Brunel University, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Manchester. The goal of the project is to determine which smooth Fano threefolds are K-stable or, equivalently, which of them admit a Kähler-Einstein metric, as well as study their moduli space. This long-standing problem in complex geometry can now be solved thanks to developments in the theory of K-stability in the last decade. The project has already resulted in a number of strong publications, including the book “The Calabi Problem for Fano Threefolds”, published by Cambridge University Press.

We are now seeking to appoint an experienced algebraic or complex geometer. Experience in K-stability, (non-reductive) Geometric Invariant Theory, birational geometry of Fano threefolds, singularity theory of algebraic varieties, or moduli theory is desirable but not essential. Excellent programming skills in mathematics software (such as Python, SageMath, MAGMA…) are desirable but not essential.

The post is for 7 months and will be based in Colchester, at the University of Essex. The PI at Essex, to which the Senior Research Officer will report to is Dr. Jesus Martinez-Garcia. The other PIs of the project are Prof. Ivan Cheltsov (Edinburgh), Dr. Anne-Sophie Kaloghiros (Brunel) and Prof. Hendrik Suess (Manchester/Jena).

The main academic duties of this post are to explore how recently developed tools in the area of K-stability can provide a full classification of K-stable smooth Fano threefolds and their moduli, as well as to develop new tools in the area. To make progress towards these goals, the candidate will be expected to work with other researchers working in the areas of algebraic, complex and birational geometry. This is a great opportunity to build a leading interdisciplinary research profile and develop experience in a cutting-edge fast-developing field of high academic impact.

Qualifications required

You should have a relevant doctoral level degree in mathematics, with expertise in algebraic geometry, or equivalent professional experience or practice or be close to completion of such PhD.

Please use the 'Apply' button to read further information about this role including the full job description and person specification which outlines the full duties, skills, qualifications and experience needed for this role. You will also find details of how to make your application here.

Our website http://www.essex.ac.uk contains more information about the University of Essex. If you have a disability and would like information in a different format, please email resourcing@essex.ac.uk.

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