The LSST:UK Consortium wishes to recruit a Project Scientist, to replace Stephen Smartt, who has decided to step down after almost 7 years of service to accept a prestigious Royal Society Research Professorship. This position is funded at a level of 0.2 FTE and that indicates the level of time commitment the position requires. It is available from July 2024, with an initial appointment running to the end of LSST:UK Phase C (i.e., to 31 March 2027), although the position and its funding are expected to continue beyond that date.

Applications should be submitted by email to Mike Watson (email: mgw@le.ac.uk)  by 17.00 on 7 June 2024 and should comprise the following:

• a short academic CV (max. 2 pages) highlighting achievements relevant to the Project Scientist post;

• a personal statement (max. 2 pages) summarising the applicant's involvement in LSST to date and explaining their interest in, and suitability for, the Project Scientist role, with reference to the role description below; and

• a short statement from the applicant's Head of Department (or equivalent) confirming that their institution would accept STFC funding at the 0.2 FTE level should the applicant be successful and that the commitments outlined in the role description are consistent with the applicant's other duties.

Informal questions from potential applicants may be addressed to any of the following:

• Mike Watson (mgw@le.ac.uk): LSST:UK Consortium Board Chair and Project Scientist Selection Committee Chair

• Bob Mann (rgm@roe.ac.uk): LSST:UK Project Leader

• Stephen Smartt (stephen.smartt@physics.ox.ac.uk): current LSST:UK Project Scientist. 

Project Scientist Role Description

The Project Scientist (PS) is responsible for the overall scientific direction of LSST:UK, within constraints set by the Consortium Board, by whom the PS is appointed and to whom they are answerable. The primary objectives of the PS are: (i) to help maximise the scientific return that the UK community derives from the Rubin LSST; and (ii) to provide scientific guidance when that is needed to guide decisions made within the LSST:UK Consortium and the LSST:UK Science Centre (LUSC).

The specific activities needed to meet those objectives will vary with time, but include the following:

• Chairing the LSST:UK Science Working Group. This group is intended to represent the range of scientific interests of the LSST:UK community and to aid its interaction with the international LSST Science Collaborations. The detailed role of this group, as we approach and enter LSST operations, will be for the incoming Project Scientist to develop.

• Maintaining the LSST:UK Science Requirements Document. The SRD translates the high-level goals of the LSST:UK Long-Term Plan into specific scientific requirements for the LUSC work packages. These mainly correspond to in-kind contributions, so their scope is primarily set by their respective Recipient Groups, but the PS, with the assistance of the Project Leader and Science Working Group, is responsible for ensuring their scientific validity.

• Attending Consortium Board, Executive Group and STFC Oversight Committee meetings. The PS is responsible for representing the UK community’s science interests in these meetings, and for ensuring that these bodies are provided with sufficient scientific advice to make decisions on science-based matters.

• Leading the Community Scientist aspect of the UK in-kind programme. The Community Scientist scheme will provide effort to the Rubin Community Science Team (CST) through secondment of UK researchers. It is intended to be beneficial both to the Rubin CST, by providing it with additional effort located in a European time-zone, and to the UK community, by providing a conduit through which expertise from the Rubin CST can be disseminated through UK institutions. This in-kind contribution has not yet started, and the profiling of its effort will be determined by the incoming PS, in conjunction with Melissa Graham, who leads the Rubin CST.

• Providing a scientific interface between LSST:UK and the Rubin Observatory. The PS is responsible for ensuring that the Rubin Observatory is kept apprised of the scientific priorities of the UK community. For example, the PS is expected to accept invitations to join Rubin committees (e.g., the Science Advisory Committee, the Survey Cadence Optimisation Committee, the Users Committee) and/or secure UK representation on them from suitable members of the LSST:UK community. More generally, the PS will identify when opportunities arise for members of the UK community to contribute scientific expertise to Rubin activities.

• Promoting Rubin and LSST to the UK astronomical community. The PS will enhance the prominence of the Rubin LSST within the UK astronomical community and, hence, expand the scientific return that the community derives from the survey. This will include providing support for the organisation of LSST-specific science meetings, and promoting the Rubin LSST and LSST:UK at other scientific meetings (e.g., related to synergistic programmes) and through talks at UK institutions.

In addition to these specific activities, the Project Scientist also contributes to the overall leadership of LSST:UK, sharing responsibility for the implementation of the over-arching objectives of the Consortium. These include ensuring that the Consortium obtains an appropriate scientific return from the public funds invested in it and that it operates in accordance with principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.

With those requirements in mind, the next LSST:UK Project Scientist should ideally possess the following qualities:

• Broad scientific expertise and authority. The PS will need to lead all scientific aspects of the Consortium and to have the stature to ensure their decisions are seen as objective and authoritative.

• Experience of large scientific collaborations. The PS will need to interact effectively with the leadership of the LSST Science Collaborations, and to support UK involvement in them, so they will require experience of how large collaborations function in astronomy; ideally, this will include a track record of active involvement in the LSST Science Collaborations.

• Good connections within the UK, US and international Rubin LSST communities. Experience working within the UK and broader international Rubin LSST communities would be an advantage, as would familiarity with the project structure and key individuals within it. 

The Project Scientist role is funded at the level of 0.2 FTE for the remainder of Phase C (i.e., to 31 March 2027) and that indicates the average level of time commitment it requires; in practice, however, the time commitment varies significantly from month to month. The PS also holds a modest travel budget to support their activities.

The LSST:UK Consortium is committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusion and specifically encourages applications from members of under-represented groups within the UK community who would increase the diversity of the LSST:UK leadership.