Application closing date 15/03/2021
Salary £33,797 per annum (pro rata)
Job category/type Research
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Job description

The Marine Energy Research Group is currently seeking to appoint a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to its team to complement the research portfolio in wave energy. The post is funded by the SuperGen Offshore Renewable Energy Flexible Fund, where the successful candidate will investigate the direct coupling of a reverse osmosis desalination plant with wave energy converters.

Your role will be split between two distinct areas: numerical and experimental. The numerical element will look at how the design of the wave energy technology influences the expected flow into the RO desalination plant. It is anticipated that the modelling will be done in standard software such as Matlab/Simulink, with the choice of modelling tool dependent on your skills, experience and advice. The experimental element will look at how the water production and quality are influenced by the pressurised water feed from the wave energy technology. The experimental part of the research programme will be facilitated with the availability of a reverse osmosis test rig which has been built recently with university funding. The rig is designed to simulate the full range of possible operating conditions, making it appropriate for research into all wave-powered desalination plants, and could be used also to investigate wind and tidal-powered desalination plants in the future.

You will be encouraged to publish your research work in recognised academic publications / international conferences and identify further research opportunities in the area. This post is funded until 28 February 2022 on either a 12 month period at 90% FTE (or 10 month period at 100% FTE); whichever is soonest. 

The successful candidate must have:

• Have or be about to obtain a PhD in the engineering or physics
• At least three years recent relevant research experience.
• Demonstrable experience of designing and working with bespoke laboratory equipment
• Demonstrable experience of developing/calibrating and refining numerical models based on experimental data

For full job details and essential/desirable criteria please refer to the candidate information link on our website by clicking apply.  For further information or assistance contact The Resourcing Team, People and Culture, Queen's University Belfast, BT7 1NN.  Telephone (028) 9097 3044 or email on resourcing@qub.ac.uk. 

Queen’s University Belfast is a driver of innovation based on our talented, multinational workforce. Throughout the University, our academics are collaborating across disciplines to develop new discoveries and insights, working with outside agencies and institutions on projects of international significance. We are connected and networked with strategic partnerships across the world, helping us to expand our impact on wider society locally, nationally and globally. The University is committed to attracting, retaining and developing the best global talent within an environment that enables them to realise their full potential.

We are a leader in gender equality and diversity, and are one of the UK’s most successful universities in the Athena SWAN initiative which promotes gender equality and career progression. We are ranked 1st in the UK for knowledge transfer partnerships, (Innovate UK) 9th in the UK for University facilities (Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018) and 14th in the UK for research quality (Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2019).

Based in Belfast, a modern capital city, our beautiful campus is surrounded by abundant acres of parkland and is renowned as one of the safest and affordable cities in the UK. The choice of local Schools from pre-nursery upwards are some of the best available, and lovers of the outdoors can enjoy any number of activities from rowing and kayaking to top class golf among many others. We are immensely proud of what our city and our University will offer you.

The University is committed to equality of opportunity and welcomes applications from all. However, our employment monitoring data tells us that individuals from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, people with a disability and those who identify as LGBT+ are currently under-represented at the University. Also male protestants are currently under-represented in this category of work. As such, we particularly welcome applications from these individuals.

As you may be aware, Queen’s is recognised as one of the most diverse organisations in Northern Ireland. We are committed to ensuring our workplace is a safe, welcoming and inclusive place to work, which is why we subscribe to Equality Charter Marks such as Stonewall Workplace Equality Index, Diversity Charter Mark NI and Athena SWAN.

It is also why we have established award winning Staff Networks such as PRISM and iRise. These networks provide an opportunity for staff to meet in a friendly, informal way to support each other.  More details on all our networks can be found at https://www.qub.ac.uk/sites/StaffGateway/StaffNetworks/.

Fixed term contract posts are available for the stated period in the first instance but, in particular circumstances, may be renewed or made permanent, subject to availability of funding. 

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