Postdoctoral Research Associate

The Role and Department

The Department of Mathematical Sciences is one of the UK’s best mathematics departments with an outstanding reputation in teaching, research and employability of our students. It has an active programme of internationally recognized research in Pure and Applied Mathematics. The research culture is vibrant, with many visitors, seminars, international conferences and workshops. We aim to provide a supportive and friendly environment with a strong sense of community. The Department, which currently has 110 permanent members of staff, is set to grow significantly over the next ten years.

The Department holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award. Athena SWAN is a national initiative that recognises the advancement of gender equality, representation, progression and success for all in academia. The Department also supports the London Mathematical Society Good Practice Scheme, whose aim is to support mathematics departments to embed equal opportunities for women within their working practices.

Durham University is committed to the Concordat to support the career development of researchers. For further information please visit the Research Staff web pages on

The Role

Applications are invited for a two-year postdoctoral position in low-dimensional topology and knot theory in the research group of Dr Claudius Zibrowius.

The position will initially be for 24 months, with the possibility of an extension for another 6–12 months (not guaranteed). The starting date will be between 1 April and 1 October 2023, by agreement.

There is ample travel funding and there are no teaching duties.

The successful candidate will be working on projects related to the DFG research grant "Local problems in low-dimensional topology from the perspective of multicurves", through which the position is funded. Expertise in bordered Heegaard Floer homology and/or Khovanov homology is desirable, but not essential. The successful candidate will also have time to develop their own research programme and to collaborate with other people. Durham has a particularly strong profile in geometry and topology.

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