School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences

Postdoctoral Research Assistant

Paisley Campus

REQ001112

Grade AC2:  £36,914 - £44,045

Full-time: 35 Hours per week

Fixed Term:  24-months

The purpose of this 24-months postdoctoral researcher position available from 01/06/2021 is to make leading contributions to the Innovative and Collaborative Research Partnerships Grant project entitled “Investigation in Advanced Energy Harvesters and Energy Storage Devices for Self-powered Flexible Energy Systems (FleEnSys)”. You will be based in the Institute of Thin Films, Sensors and Imaging (www.itfsi.com) at the University of the West of Scotland, and work with Principal Investigator Dr. Carlos Garcia Nuñez and Co-Investigator Prof. Des Gibson, as well as, collaboratively with other members of the project team, including UK partners (Dr. Hadi Heidari and Prof. Muhammad Imran from University of Glasgow; Dr. Matthias Kauer from Lightricity Ltd.) and Pakistan partners (Dr. Imran Murtaza and Prof. Ahmed Shuja Syed from International Islamic University Islamabad). The post-holder will primarily be responsible for leading the growth and characterisation of supercapacitors based on 2D materials as well as their integration with various energy harvesting technologies, including triboelectric nanogenerators and photovoltaic cells.

This project is an ambitious investigation towards addressing the flexibility requirements of wearable energy systems, aiming to integrate both energy harvesting and storage devices in a unique flexible platform. To this end, this project comprises the collaboration of 5 academic partners (x2 United Kingdom, x2 Pakistan, x1 Spain) and 1 industrial partner (UK) who have a wide and extensive experience in the field of energy storage devices (International Islamic University Islamabad; University of the West of Scotland), energy harvesters (University of Glasgow; Lightricity Ltd), and wearable sensing technologies (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid).

To be considered for the role, you will be educated to a minimum of PhD level in physics, chemistry or engineering disciplines and have associated research experience in materials sciences, nanotechnology and energy applications (either energy harvesters or storage devices). You will have sufficient breadth or depth of knowledge of: i) growth and characterisation of nanomaterials; ii) device fabrication and characterisation, major on electrochemical and electric characterisation of energy harvesting/storage devices, as well as report and publication writing, and the ability to conduct individual research work to prepare research proposals. As well as undertaking the research work for this project, the successful candidate will contribute to the formulation and submission of research publications and collaboratively help manage and direct this complex multi-disciplinary project.

You will have an ability to plan and organise your own workload effectively and an ability to work within a team environment. You will have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to listen, engage and persuade, and to present complex information in an accessible way to a range of audiences. You will have significant experience of working directly in a material science research lab environment.

Enquiries to Dr. Carlos Garcia Nuñez (carlos.garcianunez@uws.ac.uk) 

Further information, including details of how to apply are available at https://jobs.uws.ac.uk/

Closing Date:          Wednesday, 28^th April 2021

Interview Date:       w/c 17^th May 2021

UWS is committed to equality and diversity and welcomes applications from underrepresented groups.

UWS is a “Disability Confident” employer.

University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity, no. SC002520.