PostDoc position on the early evolution of planetary systems at Queen Mary University (UK) |

The Astronomy Unit at Queen Mary University of London invites applications for a postdoctoral position to work on the early evolution of planetary systems as part of the European Research Council (now UKRI Frontier) grant “Age-Enabled Exoplanet Science”.
The contract is full-time and limited to 3 years.

Job Reference: 8308
Application deadline: 11 January 2026
Starting date: –
Where: Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
Duration of the contract: 36 months – Full time
Salary: Range £38,419 – £46,618 per annum

Job Tasks

The successful candidate will work on determining the timescales and relative roles of key evolutionary processes in sculpting planetary system architectures and bulk planet properties. They will play a leading role in one or more of:

characterising young transiting planet systems detected by TESS and PLATO;
determining planet occurrence rates as a function of time (from 1 Myr – 10 Gyr);
testing the predictions of specific evolutionary processes with well-characterised sub-samples of young planetary systems (e.g. migration mechanisms and atmospheric mass loss processes).

The successful candidate will be expected to both lead and contribute to journal publications, and will be encouraged to develop and pursue independent research programs according to their interests.

Profile’s requirements

PhD (or equivalent qualification) in Astronomy/Astrophysics or a closely-related discipline;
history of publications and oral/poster presentations commensurate with their career stage.

Experience in exoplanet (including host star) research and in data and statistical analyses (all broadly defined), is desirable but not essential, and applicants with a wide range of skills will be considered.