Location: Parkville
Role type: Full time/Part time; Fixed-term 
Faculty: Faculty of Science
Department/School: School of Mathematics and Statistics
Salary: Classification is either Level A or Level B depending on experience and qualifications. Level A - $77,171- $104,717 p.a. (pro rata for part-time) plus 17% super or Level B - $110,236- $130,900 p.a. (pro rata for part-time) plus 17% super

The University of Melbourne would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated, the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung Peoples, the Yorta Yorta Nation, the Dja Dja Wurrung People. We acknowledge that the land on which we meet and learn was the place of age-old ceremonies, of celebration, initiation and renewal, and that the local Aboriginal Peoples have had and continue to have a unique role in the life of these lands.

About the School of Mathematics and Statistics

The University of Melbourne's School of Mathematics and Statistics is one of Australia's leading mathematics and statistics schools. It has achieved this status through the high quality of its research and teaching programs. The School offers a wide range of subjects to undergraduate and postgraduate students and is involved in aspects of community life that impact on the interests of the School and the discipline.

The School of Mathematics and Statistics has a total of 70 continuing teaching and/or research staff; 34 research only staff and consultants; 16 academic specialists and 16 support staff. The School has over 240 casual and honorary staff. In 2020, there were 90 Research Higher Degree and 278 Coursework Master of Science students. Five members of the School staff and one Emeritus Professor are members of the Academy of Science.

About the Role

This Research Fellow, as a key appointee in a newly established ARC Training Centre in Optimisation Technologies, Integrated Methodologies and Applications (OPTIMA), is expected to conduct world-class research and provide training for research students working in industrial optimisation. The research program involves a focus on model-based and black-box optimisation methodologies of relevance to a broad range of industry partner optimisation challenges. A multidisciplinary approach is expected, drawing from techniques developed in mathematics, computer science, statistics, engineering, and economics.

The successful incumbent will be responsible for advancing optimisation methodologies, developing open-source software tools, co-supervising Masters and PhD students, collaborating with industry partners, and communicating and disseminating the research results that are not commercial-in-confidence.

Responsibilities include:

• Contributing towards the research effort of the team and to develop your research expertise with an increasing degree of autonomy
• Under the guidance and support of Senior Academic staff, conducting internationally competitive research in optimisation, either as a member of a team or independently, resulting in publications in high-quality journals and conferences, and other scholarly outputs to a high academic standard
• Presenting research to the public to increase public awareness of educational and scientific developments
• Actively participating at OPTIMA and School meetings and, with guidance, contribute to planning activities or committee work to support capacity building in OPTIMA

About You

You will have the capacity to work constructively and collaboratively with colleagues in furthering the aims of OPTIMA, and an ability to work in multidisciplinary research or teaching teams. You will possess excellent oral and written communication skills and an ability to represent OPTIMA, the School, and the discipline with internal or external groups and have significant experience with programming computational algorithms. Industry experience solving optimisation problems to support decision making and a track record of external funding through grant applications and/or support in funded joint projects with others internal or external to the University is desirable but not essential.

You will also have:

• Completion of a PhD in a field of applied mathematics, statistics, computer science or engineering or related discipline
• Demonstrated capacity to engage in outstanding research in optimisation, consistent with the strengths and strategic directions of OPTIMA, with a strong publication track record of original research publications in peer-reviewed international journals, relative to time since PhD completion
• Experience in at least one of the following topics: operations research, constraint programming, evolutionary computation, computational optimisation, machine learning, and/or stochastic optimisation
• Capacity to supervise, develop and motivate postgraduate and honours research students

About the University

The University of Melbourne is consistently ranked amongst the leading universities in the world. We are proud of our people, our commitment to research and teaching excellence, and our global engagement.

Benefits of Working with Us

In addition to having the opportunity to grow and be challenged, and to be part of a vibrant campus life, our people enjoy a range of rewarding benefits:

• Flexible working arrangements, generous personal, parental and cultural leave
• Competitive remuneration, 17% super, salary packaging and leave loading
• Free and subsidised health and wellbeing services, and access to fitness and cultural clubs
• Discounts on a wide range of products and services including Myki cards and Qantas Club
• Career development opportunities and 25% off graduate courses for staff and their immediate families

To find out more, visit https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/staff-benefits.

Be Yourself

We value the unique backgrounds, experiences and contributions that each person brings to our community and encourage and celebrate diversity.  First Nations people, those identifying as LGBTQIA+, females, people of all ages, with disabilities and culturally and linguistically diverse people are encouraged to apply. Our aim is to create a workforce that reflects the community in which we live.

Join Us!

Please submit your application including a brief cover letter, your resume and your responses against the selection criteria^ (found in the Position Description) for the role.

^For information to help you with compiling short statements to answer the selection criteria and competencies, please go to http://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/selection-criteria

We are dedicated to ensuring barrier free and inclusive practices to recruit the most talented candidates. If you require any reasonable adjustments with the recruitment process, please contact  us at hr-talent@unimelb.edu.au.

Position description: 0053800_OPTIMA POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH FELLOW_PD.pdf

Applications close: 29th November 2022 11:55 PM AUS Eastern Daylight Time