The UvA’s Faculty of Science is launching a major recruitment campaign called ‘Connecting Science’ in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Computer Science. Our ambition is to attract top talent from all over the world to a large number of newly created faculty positions in a wide range of exciting scientific directions. We offer a stimulating environment and excellent conditions for research, tightly connected to challenging educational programmes.

We are looking for ambitious and motivated scientists to connect different scientific disciplines. Our goal is to have a maximal impact on science and society.

Research area

This tenure track position is at the interface between physics and mathematics in the area of Quantum Matter and Quantum Information. We are looking for someone bilingual in the mathematical and physical aspects of quantum matter and information.

The focus will be on approaches to quantum many-body theory and quantum information that bridge both disciplines, and to connect to existing research in these areas. Keywords for this position are mathematics of quantum information and quantum matter, quantum many body theory, entanglement, integrable systems, representation theory.

The positions fits within the ambitious program in Quantum Matter & Quantum Information (QM&QI) of the University of Amsterdam, focused in its highly visible research center QuSoft. This programme is a collaborative effort of the research institutes IoP (physics), KdVI (mathematics), IvI (computer science) and ILLC (logic). The highly interdisciplinary nature of the programme creates a very stimulating atmosphere for young, talented researchers. The position also underpins the continuing success of the double Bachelor and Masters programme Physics and Mathematics at the UvA, both magnets for the very brightest young talent in either discipline.

Embedding of the position

The position will be shared 50-50 between the Physics department IoP and the mathematics department KdVI of the University of Amsterdam. The position complements existing expertises in both departments, and is closely aligned with research center QuSoft, its academic and industrial partners, and the Quantum Software Consortium (NWO Gravitation).

Tasks

You are expected to:

• be active in the research of mathematical physics aspects of quantum information theory, publishing in high level international journals, presenting at leading conferences and supervising PhD students;
• take part in the teaching effort of the group, including supervision of bachelor and master students, teaching for other departments, and teaching in the national master programme;
• be active in the attraction of external funding;
• be open to collaborations with other institutes and/or companies by contributing statistical expertise to (joint) research projects.

We will base our selection on your scientific track record and on your vision for future research, as well as on your teaching achievement, qualifications, and vision for future teaching.

What do we require?

• A PhD in Mathematics and/or Physics, bilingual in mathematics and physics, and demonstrable experience with and affinity to the mathematics physics aspects of quantum information theory;
• excellent research skills, evidenced by a track record of publications in renowned international conferences and journals, and contributed and/or invited talks at international conferences/workshops;
• a strong background, experience and expertise with research closely related to the mathematical physics aspects of quantum information theory;
• teaching experience at university level and demonstrable didactic abilities;
• preferably experience with the (co-)supervision of BSc, MSc and/or PhD students;
• the willingness to contribute to valorisation efforts and to foster collaborations with other academic institutes and industry;
• (the ability to develop) the management skills required for general academic administration, organisational and coordination tasks;
• the ability to attract external funding;
• good command of English and willingness to learn the Dutch language. 

International research experience is preferred as is a highly collaborative and enthusiastic approach.

We offer you a tenure-track agreement for five years (which is part of a six-year temporary appointment). At the start, we will draw up an agreement with you, specifying the tenure-track requirements for research, teaching and management tasks that need to be fulfilled in order to assess progress after three years and after five years. The requirements in this agreement are negotiable and depend on your experience and scientific profile. Following a positive assessment after five years  the appointment will become permanent.

Start dates are negotiable. The positions will be filled at the level of Assistant or Associate professor, depending on qualifications. The starting salary will be in accordance with university regulations for academic personnel, and depending on experience and qualifications. It will range from a minimum of €3,637 up to a maximum of €6,738 gross per month (salary scale 11-14) based on full-time employment. This is exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 % end-of-year bonus. A favorable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits like our excellent opportunities for study and development? Take a look here.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

Faculty of Science – Korteweg-de Vries Institute for Mathematics and Institute of Physics

About the Institute of Physics

The mission of the Institute of Physics (IoP) is to carry out excellent research in the field of experimental and theoretical physics, to provide inspiring teaching within the physics and other curricula and to transfer our knowledge of and enthusiasm for physics to society. The IoP has over 50 faculty and 180 researchers in total. The combination with the NWO Institutes at Amsterdam Science Park constitutes the largest physics hub in the Netherlands and is an international centre of excellence.

Research at IoP is organized in three research divisions: the Van der Waals-Zeeman Institute for Experimental Physics (WZI), the Institute for Theoretical Physics Amsterdam (ITFA) and the Institute for High-Energy Physics (IHEF), the latter embedded within Nikhef, the National Institute for Subatomic Physics. Within IoP, the position will be based within ITFA, which focuses on research in the (partly overlapping) themes Soft Condensed Matter, Quantum Condensed Matter, String Theory, Theoretical Particle Physics, Astroparticle Physics, Cosmology, Mathematical Physics, and History of Physics.

About the Korteweg-de Vries Instituut

The Korteweg-de Vries Instituut voor Wiskunde (KdV Institute) is the mathematical research institute of the Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam. The KdV Institute offers a stimulating scientific environment in which research focuses mainly within the research programmes (1) Algebra, Geometry and Mathematical Physics, (2) Pure, Applied and Numerical Analysis, and (3) Stochastics. It also provides the lecturers and instructors for the mathematics teaching within the Science faculty. The KdV Institute participates in the NWO research clusters GQT, STAR, NDNS+, DIAMANT, and the NWO-Gravity programmes NETWORKS and the Quantum Software Consortium. There is formal (and informal) collaboration with the Centrum voor Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the VU University and the financial industry. The KdVI organises popularising activities such as ’ Leve de Wiskunde’, Masterclasses and online webclasses. The KdVI has about 30 faculty members and 40 postdocs and PhD students.