The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is committed to meeting the objectives of Employment Equity to improve representativity within the Institution. Preference will be given to applicants from the designated group in accordance with our Employment Equity Plan.

This School offers a vibrant educational and research environment in Pure Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics. The School is the largest of its kind in South Africa, and has many well-established national and international collaborative research linkages.

The School is expanding its profile in Pure Mathematics, with research groups in topology, functional analysis and numerical analysis, and a nascent algebra group. The School also has well established Applied Mathematics research groups working on differential equations and symmetries; gravity and differential geometry; applied classical analysis and an astronomy group which synergises with both the theory groups in Mathematics and Physics, and also our sister disciplines of Computer Science and Statistics, with particular overlap in data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning. There are extensive opportunities for collaboration between the various groups and across the School.

In order to strengthen its capabilities in the area of Pure Mathematics, and to drive synergies between the sub-disciplines,  the discipline of Mathematics at the Westville Campus seeks to appoint a classically trained Pure Mathematician at the rank of Research Professor (5-year contract renewable, backed by a substantive professorial post), specializing in one of our Pure Math focus areas (analysis, topology, algebra), or a related field. A willingness to collaborate across the mathematical sciences would be a strong advantage, as would demonstrable links to contemporary developments in data science, AI, machine learning or to other areas of application that have material impact.

The successful candidate will be expected to be an internationally regarded leader in their field, with a willingness to grow the Pure Mathematics sector at UKZN. In particular, they will be expected to contribute actively to research in their area of specialization, and to provide leadership, guidance and mentorship to the Pure Mathematics sector at UKZN, and across the broader mathematical sciences. They will actively participate in research activities and supervise post-graduate students; help grow the research programme of the School by fostering an enabling research culture and environment; and carry out some administrative tasks as determined by the line manager for this post.