Jeremy Hutson, from Durham University, has up to two 2-year post-doc positions available to work on the Theory of Ultracold Molecules in his group at Durham (a beautiful cathedral city in northern England, with a fast train connection to London). The positions are available as soon as convenient after January 2027.
The positions are funded under four EPSRC Grants: a Programme Grant on developing the use of ultracold molecules for use in quantum simulation, together with two others on forming ultracold molecules from CaF+Rb and Cs+Yb(3P) and one on symmetry-protected states of Cs2. All of them involve collaborations with experimental groups: principally those of Simon Cornish (Durham), Mike Tarbutt (Imperial College London) and Cheng Chin (Chicago), together with other leading experimental and theoretical groups around the world. They have already formed ultracold polar RbCs and CaF molecules in their absolute ground state at temperatures around 1 microKelvin. They are now exploring the properties of the molecules, particularly their interactions and collisions, in order to develop their use for quantum science.
Cold molecules provide a fascinating playground for molecular quantum mechanics. They develop theory that is closely related to current experiments in this fast-moving field. Applicants will need to have experience in _developing_ theoretical methods in one of the branches of molecular quantum mechanics (collisions, wide-amplitude vibrations, electronic structure, etc.) and will share a fascination with understanding fundamental quantum behaviour in molecular systems.
Jeremy Hutson is a member of both the Physics and Chemistry Departments at Durham. This position will be based in the Chemistry Department, but with membership to the Quantum Light and Matter grouping in the Physics Department and the Joint Quantum Centre (JQC) Durham-Newcastle.
For a description of what the group does, look at https://jmhutson.webspace.durham.ac.uk. They publish on average about 8 papers per year, including many in high-profile journals such as Phys. Rev. Lett. and Nature journals. There’s a full publications list on the site above too.
For formal information, or to apply, please go to
https://durham.taleo.net/careersection/du_ext/jobdetail.ftl?job=26000990
The closing date for applications is 30 September 2026. For more information or informal inquiries, please contact Jeremy Hutson by email, but applications must be made via the Website above.
GEFAM 