Associate Editor, Physical Review Letters

Who we are:
The American Physical Society (APS) is a nonprofit membership organization working to advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics through its outstanding research journals, scientific meetings, and education, outreach, advocacy, and international activities. APS represents over 55,000 members, including physicists in academia, national laboratories, and industry in the United States and throughout the world. Society offices are located in College Park, MD (Headquarters), Ridge, NY, and Washington, D.C.


Position Summary:

Would you like to make a large contribution to the most trusted collection of physical science journals? As an Associate Editor of Physical Review Letters you will independently handle all phases of the peer review process and decide what will be published.  For this important work we seek a dynamic and personable individual with a strong scientific background and a passion to engage with the growing physics community.

Our editors stay connected to this community and abreast of the latest research by attending meetings and visiting research institutions around the world. In addition, editors may contribute to efforts by the Physical Review journals to publicize physics research beyond a pure physics audience.
 

We value diversity and are open to researchers from a variety of backgrounds. We will train you to develop the editorial skills that will make you an integral part of our team. We offer career stability with competitive salary and benefits to a qualified individual ready for a nontraditional career in physics.

Application Deadline: March 8, 2021

A Typical Week May Look Like This:

• Manage all aspects of peer review for a suite of manuscripts. This includes determining if review is warranted, selecting referees, evaluating responses, and deciding to publish, or not.
• Maintain close contact with the other PRL editors and with the editors of the other journals in the Physical Review portfolio.
• Help select and briefly summarize papers to highlight.
• Keep abreast of current and emerging physics research.
• Build ties with the community, especially via our Editorial Board and at conferences.
• Participate in editorial and cross-departmental APS projects.

Is This You:

Education: PhD in physics or related field with relevant experience (postdoctoral experience required). The ideal candidate has expertise in materials physics or soft matter physics, but other areas of expertise will be considered. PRL covers all areas of  physics research, so a multifield or interdisciplinary background is useful.

Experience, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Excellent knowledge of the scientific research literature and existing research groups in the area of coverage.
• Strong sense of integrity.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Ability to make prompt independent evaluations and decisions.
• Facility in managing multiple priorities.
• Strong written and verbal English communication skills. Additional languages are also useful.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to work well both alone and as part of a team.

Travel:
Flexibility for business travel to attend conferences and events, and to interact with researchers at research institutions and universities is preferred.

Work Environment:

• Most work performed in an office environment.
• Flexible work hours to accommodate the time differences for meetings and events as requested.
• The position is based at the editorial offices in Ridge, New York, on Long Island, 100 km east of Manhattan, near Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University. We prefer a candidate who can join us in our editorial office, but we are open to considering remote working within certain parts of the US. The successful candidate will join a collaborative international team of editors across the Physical Review journals.
   

Our Mission:

To advance and diffuse the knowledge of physics for the benefit of humanity, promote physics, and serve the broader physics community, we:

• Provide a welcoming and supportive professional home for an active, engaged, and diverse membership
• Advance scientific discovery and research dissemination
• Advocate for physics and physicists, and amplify the voice for science
• Share the excitement of physics and communicate the essential role physics plays in the modern world
• Promote effective physics education for all

The Core Values That Drive Our Mission Are:

• The Scientific Method
• Truth and Integrity
• Diversity, Inclusion, and Respect
• Partnering, Cooperation, and Open Collaboration
• Speaking Out
• Education and Learning

The American Physical Society is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic or national origin, ancestry, pregnancy (including childbirth or related condition), citizenship, familial status, mental or physical disability, veteran status, genetic information, other non-disqualifying disability, or any other characteristic protected by law. 

We welcome you to apply today!