Extreme-Scale, Nano & Fundamental Engineering
/Trusted operator
Mathematical Physics Research Scientist
Framing and answering a whole mathematical question in the division's programme, and reporting its limits.
Compensation
Engagement
Full-Time
Permanent role. Full-time commitment. This is an on-site role at Kolkata. It is not remote and not hybrid.
Scope of role
Drive specific initiatives with minimal supervision. Deepen craft. Begin mentoring others.
Research classification
Proving results and building the mathematical structures other work is expressed in. Theorems and proofs, well-posedness and convergence results, formal statements of method.
Speculative frontier research. An open question that no current experiment can decide. Nothing in this area should be described, by us or by you, as a validated or available technology.
Scale range 10^-100 m to 10^-35 m
Nothing in this division is experimentally accessible. The Planck length is roughly 10^-35 m; the smallest distance any experiment has probed is around 10^-19 m, sixteen orders of magnitude larger. The frameworks worked on here are mathematically serious and experimentally undecided, and no result produced here should be described, by us or by you, as a demonstrated physical fact or an available technology. Scientific integrity is a condition of every role in this department. Assumptions are stated separately from conclusions. Uncertainty is reported. Negative and inconclusive results are written up, not discarded. Speculative work is labelled speculative, including when that makes it less impressive. Fabrication, falsification, and presenting a simulation as a measurement end an engagement here.
Scale bands are a research classification, not a claim of experimental reach. Most of this span cannot be probed by any apparatus that exists: nothing below about 10^-19 m has been measured directly, and anything at 10^26 m or beyond is inferred from observation rather than engineered. Every opportunity states the kind of work it actually is.
01 — The role
Why this role exists at EduRankAI
Department of Extreme-Scale, Nano & Fundamental Engineering, Division D01: Ultra-Fundamental & Mathematical Physics. This division asks what a physical theory would have to look like at scales no instrument reaches. It produces derivations, consistency results and reproducible computations, and it states in every result which parts are established, which are inferred, and which are conjecture. It builds no apparatus and it makes no engineering claim. This position: Framing and answering a whole mathematical question in the division's programme, and reporting its limits. Scale range for this work: 10^-100 m to 10^-35 m. Research classification: Mathematical. Proving results and building the mathematical structures other work is expressed in. Evidential standing: Speculative frontier research. An open question that no current experiment can decide. Nothing in this area should be described, by us or by you, as a validated or available technology. Nothing in this division is experimentally accessible. The Planck length is roughly 10^-35 m; the smallest distance any experiment has probed is around 10^-19 m, sixteen orders of magnitude larger. The frameworks worked on here are mathematically serious and experimentally undecided, and no result produced here should be described, by us or by you, as a demonstrated physical fact or an available technology. Scale bands are a research classification, not a claim of experimental reach. Most of this span cannot be probed by any apparatus that exists: nothing below about 10^-19 m has been measured directly, and anything at 10^26 m or beyond is inferred from observation rather than engineered. Every opportunity states the kind of work it actually is. Level 3 (Engineer and Scientist). A whole problem end to end: framing it, doing the work, and reporting the result with its limits.
02 — The work
What you will own
- 01 Formulate rigorous mathematical models of the systems the division studies, with assumptions stated explicitly.
- 02 Investigate the internal consistency of theoretical frameworks and record precisely where each one breaks.
- 03 Develop numerical calculations and simulations where a closed-form result is unavailable.
- 04 Derive analytic results and check them against limiting cases that are already known.
- 05 Quantify what a result depends on, and identify what would falsify it.
- 06 Build reproducible research software that another person can run and obtain the same numbers from.
- 07 Classify every claim as established, inferred, or speculative, in writing, before it is published anywhere.
- 08 Own a whole problem end to end: framing it, doing the work, and reporting the result with its limits.
- 09 Review a colleague's work when asked, and say plainly when a result is not supported by its method.
03 — The expertise
What we look for
04 — The bar
Who thrives here
- → Education: Master's degree or doctorate in a relevant discipline, or equivalent demonstrated research output.
- → Experience: 2 to 5 years of relevant work, or a doctorate in the field.
- → Scope of the role: A whole problem end to end: framing it, doing the work, and reporting the result with its limits.
- → Must have: Can derive the Euler-Lagrange equations for a field theory from its action and state the symmetries that follow. Also: Fluent with tensor calculus in index and index-free notation, including covariant differentiation and curvature.
- → Portfolio: at least one piece of work — code, a written result, a thesis chapter, a preprint — that somebody outside your institution can read and assess. It does not need to be published.
Terms of Engagement
How working time works at this level
A scheduled week: five days, eight hours a day, with two full rest days and latitude over when within the day you work.
Type
Mid-level
Working days
5 per week
Rest days
2 per week
Scheduled week
40 hrs
Per day
8h
Measured by
Objectives agreed at the start of each cycle. Hours recorded for compliance are never used as a performance score.
Where this stands legally
Within the 9-hour day and 48-hour week ceiling of the applicable state Shops and Establishments Act, with at least 24 consecutive hours of weekly rest and a break of at least 30 minutes after five hours of continuous work. Hours are recorded for statutory compliance only. Work beyond the scheduled week is agreed in advance and compensated with time off in lieu.
The full per-level model is published at Working Hours by Level.
05 — Hiring process
What to expect after you apply
- 01
Application review
Every application is read personally within five business days. We respond either way.
- 02
Take-home or live exercise
Role-specific. Time-boxed. Real problems we are actually working on, not invented puzzles.
- 03
Conversations
Deep technical and values conversations with the team you would join. No trick questions. No panel ambushes.
- 04
Offer or honest no
If yes: digital offer letter, signed in-portal, transparent terms. If no: written feedback if you want it.
The standard
What you deliver, and how it is judged
Deliverables
- Written derivations with assumptions, limits of validity and known failure modes stated.
- Reproducible computational notebooks or codes with a fixed environment and seeded runs.
- Internal notes that a colleague in another division can act on without a conversation.
- A statement, for each result, of what observation or calculation would contradict it.
Evaluation criteria
- Correctness of derivation, checked against known limits.
- Reproducibility: does the code produce the reported number on another machine.
- Clarity about what is assumed versus what is concluded.
- Honesty about negative and inconclusive results, which are reported rather than discarded.
Preferred, not required
Nothing in this list is a bar to applying.
Tools you would work in
Reports to: Ultra-Fundamental & Mathematical Physics Lead
Works with: D02, D09, D15
Before you start
What we will collect. What it costs. What we will not do with it.
We will collect
- Name, email, phone — Account + application updates. No marketing.
- Resume / portfolio link — Human review of your work.
- Date + place of birth — Identity verification only.
- Your written responses — Selection rubric. Read by humans.
- Government ID (later) — Anti-fraud at offer / interview stage. Not at signup.
We will never
- Sell your data
- Share with third-party recruiters
- Use for advertising
- Train models on it
- Send marketing email
Our situation
EduRankAI is a small, independent organization building long-term capabilities in educational intelligence, advanced AI systems, and research infrastructure. We take no advertiser money, no donations with strings attached, and no investor pressure on hiring decisions. Applying is free, and every application is read by a human — recruitment, technical, academic and leadership teams. It buys us the right to be honest.
Ready to apply?
We read every application personally. If you are the right person for this role — regardless of pedigree, background, or where you are based — you will hear back from us within five business days.
Apply through this page. You will be asked for your education, your experience, and links to work we can actually read — a repository, a write-up, a thesis chapter, a preprint. Send the piece of work you would defend, not the one with the best title. If a result in it turned out to be wrong, say so; we would rather read that than not know. Every application is read by a person. We assess applications on evidence of the work. We do not filter on institution, on age, on gender, on caste, on religion, on disability, or on where you are from. If any part of this process is inaccessible to you, tell us and we will change it for you.
Other roles in Extreme-Scale, Nano & Fundamental Engineering
Explore related openings
Mid Full-Time