The LSST:UK Consortium wishes to recruit a Project Scientist, to replace Sarah Bridle, who has resigned from the position in the light of her new role as PI of the STFC Food Network+. 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 1 April 2017 for an initial period of three years, though currently funding is only in place for two years.

Applications should be submitted by email to Tim Naylor before 22 March 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:

Tim Naylor (timn@astro.ex.ac.uk): LSST:UK Consortium Board Chair and Project Scientist Search Committee Chair
Bob Mann (rgm@roe.ac.uk): LSST:UK Project Leader
Sarah Bridle (sarah.bridle@manchester.ac.uk): former LSST:UK Project Scientist.

Project Scientist Role Description

The LSST:UK Governance document describes the role of Project Scientist as follows:

Answers to the Consortium Board. 
Chairs the Science Working Group. 
Attends Consortium Board and Executive Group meetings.
Responsible for the overall scientific direction of the project within the constraints laid down by the Consortium Board.
Responsible for formulating, with the assistance of the Project Leader and the Science Working Group, the technical requirements that deliver the scientific priorities of the project.
Responsible for ensuring that sufficient scientific advice (be it from within or outwith the project) is available to enable the Consortium Board and the Executive Group to make decisions on science-based matters.
Provides the scientific interface between LSST:UK and the LSST project as a whole, and especially the LSST Science Collaborations. Responsible for ensuring both sides are aware of the scientific activities of the other, and enabling co-operation where that is appropriate.
Maintains the Science Requirements Document which translates the Long Term Plan into deliverables.

That description was written before the start of the funded LSST:UK Science Centre project, but experience to date does not motivate significant deviation from that specification.

From these high-level statements can be derived the following set of tasks and responsibilities that are likely to dominate the Project Scientist’s duties during the next year and that illustrate the kinds of activities undertaken by the PS.

Scientific interface between LSST:UK and the wider LSST community. Members of the LSST:UK Consortium with Affiliate PI status are now joining, and participating in the activities of, the LSST Science Collaborations (SCs). A UK Point of Contact (PoC) has been appointed for each SC (and, in several cases, for working groups within them), and the PoCs are charged with engaging UK interest within their science area and acting as a bridge to the relevant SC, sharing (insofar as allowed by SC rules) information about the SC’s activities with members of the LSST:UK Consortium. The different SCs exhibit varying levels of activity, as do the PoCs. By mid-2017, the Project Scientist is to review the UK’s scientific engagement with the wider LSST community, leading to an assessment (made in conjunction with the Executive Group) of the effectiveness of the current PoCs and a production of a refreshed list of PoCs.
Science goals and requirements. The LSST:UK Science Requirements Document currently summarises the science case from the Phase A proposal and presents the Tasks to be undertaken by the grant-funded staff during Phase A. The UK’s scientific engagement with LSST has now developed to a point where it is possible to present a more detailed view of UK goals within each area of LSST science over the different phases of the project’s lifetime. The PS will coordinate the production by the Science Working Group of a summary of UK science priorities for exploitation of data (i) from Commissioning, (ii) from the first year of the survey, (iii) from the first three years, and (iv) from the full ten-year survey. A Phase B Preparation Workshop planned for late April 2017 will confront the first iteration of these science goals with the constraints imposed by the Project’s plans for the data and software products it will make available to the LSST community, thereby helping to identify the science requirements for the DEV activities to be undertaken by grant-funded effort during Phases B-D.
Scientific coordination in Phase B planning. The Phase B proposal will be submitted on behalf of the LSST:UK Consortium and, so, must be approved by the Consortium Board. The Board has requested that the PS should present to its April/May meeting a proposal for how the scientific content of the Phase B proposal should be decided. In particular, what should be the timeline on which draft science cases for Phase B DEV effort should be submitted and evaluated, and what group should conduct their evaluation, using what set of criteria.

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

Broad scientific expertise and authority. The PS will need to lead the evaluation of completing proposals from different science areas and to have the assessment they make accepted 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 judge the effectiveness with which the PoCs are doing so, which will require experience of how large collaborations function in astronomy.
Good connections within the UK, US and international LSST communities. Experience working within the UK and broader international 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 A (i.e. to 31 March 2019) and that indicates the average level of time commitment it requires; in practice, however, the time commitment varies significantly, with the next year likely to be particularly demanding, given the preparation for the Phase B proposal.

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