School of Water, Energy and Environment

Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Informatics

Professor of Environment Systems for Aerospace

Competitive Salary

Location: Cranfield, Bedfordshire

Come and join the Cranfield community. Our people are our most valuable resource and everyone has a role to play in shaping the future of our University, developing our learners, and transforming the businesses we work with.

Aviation is accountable of 3.6% of the total greenhouse gas emissions and for 13.4% of the emissions from transport in Europe. Globally, the environmental impacts from air travel have increased by 10 per cent for CO₂, 12 per cent for NOX (nitrogen oxides) and 14 per cent for noise since 2014. The airline industry estimates that air travel will continue to grow rapidly, with average annual growth rates of 5.3% up to 2023. In addition to the contribution to GHG emissions, aviation contributes to noise and other environmental problems. Aviation has a far wider footprint than that solely generated by aircraft. Airports are often key economic drivers of urban development yet also contribute to local pollution through necessitated ground transit.

Cranfield is an exclusively postgraduate university that is a global leader for education and transformational research in technology and management. Cranfield University uniquely owns and manages an operational global research airport. In addition, the University is internationally recognised for its research in air pollution monitoring and control, hosting the UKRI Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) aircraft. The campus at Cranfield is also a ‘living lab’; a £1 million investment in environmental monitoring and management of the campus and airfield. In addition, aviation at Cranfield has benefited from multiple investments, including the £3 million Atmospheric Measurement Sciences, £67 million Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC), the Integrated Transport Systems Engineering Centre and the £35 million Aerospace Integration Research Centre (AIRC).

The Centre for Environmental and Agricultural Informatics (CEAI) brings sensing technology, engineering, informatics and management capabilities to a wide range of research challenges in environment and agriculture sectors. We include research on air quality and climate change, soil quality, crop growth and monitoring, natural capital, ecosystem goods and services and on urban systems. In this way, CAEI articulates the benefits and findings from the data collected, providing a whole system approach to agricultural and environmental informatics to decision science.

Our aim is to integrate environmental considerations into the development of new technologies. A major initiative on Aviation and the Environment is an essential part of that which will make a major contribution to meeting the UK’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Professor of Environment Systems for Aerospace would lead in developing systems thinking to understand and provide solutions to monitor and reduce the environmental and ecological burden of air travel and associated operations. You will collaborate with our experts in aviation and aeronautics, in local and global environmental science and assessment, and in sustainable management practices.

Our equal opportunities and diversity monitoring has shown that that women and minority ethnic groups are currently underrepresented within the university and so we actively encourage applications from eligible candidates from these groups.

You will have a PhD in a science or engineering discipline incorporating atmospheric science, environmental assessment and systems analysis. You will have a strong track record of research in the environmental assessment of aviation and other forms of transport and excellent skills in communicating with academia, industry and government.

For an informal discussion, please contact Professor Simon Pollard, Pro-Vice-Chancellor on s.pollard@cranfield.ac.uk.

At Cranfield, we value Diversity and Inclusion, and aim to create and maintain a culture in which everyone can work and study together harmoniously with dignity and respect and realise their full potential. We actively consider flexible working options such as part-time, compressed or flexible hours and/or an element of homeworking, and commit to exploring the possibilities for each role.

Apply online now at https://jobs.cranfield.ac.uk or contact us for further details on E: hr@cranfield.ac.uk or T: +44 (0)1234 750111 Ext. 2345. Please quote reference number 3187.

Closing date for receipt of applications: 05 November 2019

Informal interviews to be held: 25, 26 November and 02, 05 December 2019

www.cranfield.ac.uk