Stephen Hawking Seeks Assistant

Celebrated physicist and author of A Brief History of Time, Professor Stephen Hawking, is seeking an assistant to help him in "areas which he has difficulty due to his disability"; Hawking suffers from the motor neurone disease.

The offered salary is $25000 a year with the candidate expected to maintain "Prof Hawking's speech systems with around three months of foreign travel a year" (BBC News).

Applicants should have knowledge of computer and electronics.

The post is purely technical in nature, according to Prof Hawking's website.

The BBC reports:

"Part of the job includes maintaining Prof Hawking's wheelchairs and accessible van, preparing lecture graphics, dealing with media and public inquiries and maintaining his website.

The successful candidate should be able to work under pressure and maintain "black box" systems with "no instruction manual or technical support".

Public speaking skills and the ability to show people how to use complex systems are also required."

The job will be opened next month, and is going to be funded by the Cambridge University.