LCLU Senior Fellowship (Fixed Term)

Applications are invited from early-career researchers (up to five years research experience, excluding career breaks since the award of your PhD, at the time of proposal submission) to conduct research at the University of Cambridge. The fellowship aims to advance interdisciplinary research that tackles significant questions regarding the origins and distribution of life in the universe as part of the Leverhulme Centre for Life in the Universe (LCLU). It provides the opportunity for junior researchers to build academic independence, contribute to significant interdisciplinary research, and collaborate with top researchers in multiple fields.

Applicants must have a PhD in a relevant field to LCLU research themes (https://www.lclu.cam.ac.uk/research-themes-1). The Centre harnesses simultaneous breakthroughs in astrophysics, planetology, organic chemistry, biology and cognate disciplines to tackle one of the great interdisciplinary challenges of our time: to develop a deeper understanding of life, its emergence, and its distribution in the Universe.

LCLU research focuses on four themes: Identifying the chemical pathways to the origins of life; Characterising the environments on Earth and other planets that could act as the cradle of prebiotic chemistry and life; Discovering and characterising habitable exoplanets and signatures of geological and biological evolution; Refining our understanding of life through philosophical and mathematical concepts.

The Centre brings together researchers from Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory, Institute of Astronomy, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Divinity, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and the Departments of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics; Earth Sciences; Zoology; Biochemistry; and History and Philosophy of Science, to enable cross-disciplinary research on the origin, nature, and distribution of life in the Universe.  The Centre also has established international and national collaborations with researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder, University College London, University of Oxford, ETH Zurich, Harvard University and the Centre of Theological Inquiry in Princeton, New Jersey.

The fellowship provides an excellent opportunity for early career researchers to build academic independence, contribute to significant interdisciplinary research, and collaborate with top researchers in multiple fields.

You will be expected to demonstrate clear evidence for intellectual independence (eg, as documented in letters of reference, publications without PhD supervisors, collaboration with other institutions or different PIs, etc) and should propose an original and innovative research programme. You will be expected to actively participate in the Leverhulme Centre for Origin of Life in the Universe by attending events, networking activities therein and by giving a presentation at the midpoint and end of the fellowship.

Fellows may wish to take part in teaching activities of their host department, to a maximum of 6 hours per week, for which they will be renumerated.

A research allowance up to £40,000 is available based on outlined research costs specified in their initial proposal, and there is support for relocation costs.

Further information about LCLU can be found here: https://www.lclu.cam.ac.uk/

Applicants must submit additional documents in support of their application. To see the list of required documents visit the LCLU website via the above ‘Apply’ button.

Applications will be reviewed after the closing date and short-listed candidates will be interviewed end of January 2026.

Appointees shall ideally start in October 2026, but alternative starting dates can be arranged with some flexibility.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for 4 years in the first instance.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

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