Smart Electronic Materials & Systems

Location:  Highfield Campus
Salary:   £30,942 to £38,017
Full Time Fixed Term (01/09/21-31/08/24)
Closing Date:  Tuesday 03 August 2021
Reference:  1423621FP

You will join our cutting-edge project involving collaboration between the University of Southampton, University Hospital Southampton (UHS), Nottingham Trent University (NTU) and commercial partner Zelemiq Ltd. You will be based in Southampton, but will have the opportunity to travel to attend research meetings, conferences and work with our partners. This is an exciting project to develop a new wearable sensor for continuous respiration monitoring. In the project you will develop of a novel type of respiration sensor that can be used as a stand-alone lightweight, low-cost device with the potential to be integrated into a smart textile. You will develop the hardware and software aspects of the sensing system and to engage with the technical aspects of the associated clinical trials that will take place at UHS. 

In addition to having a PhD* or equivalent professional qualifications and experience in electronics and/or computer engineering or material science you will have:- The post requires good practical electronics circuit design and assembly skills, the ability to program microcontrollers and practical experience of testing and debugging sensor circuits and systems. You should have a 

• Broad knowledge of embedded computer systems.
• Designing printed circuit boards and familiarity with thick-film circuits.
• Interfacing sensors to microcontrollers and knowledge of wireless communications such as Bluetooth.
• Use of MATLAB for signal analysis.
• Developing smartphone apps on a variety of platforms.
• Strong track record in preparing research publications and contributing to research funding bids.

Experience of working or collaborating with industry, including preparation of reports for external clients is desirable

The project is for three years and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) as part of their Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme. 

Equality, diversity and Inclusion is central to the ethos in the School of Electronics and Computer Science. We particularly encourage women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT and disabled applicants to apply for this position. We are committed to improving equality for women in science and have been successful in achieving an Athena SWAN bronze award in April 2020.  We give full consideration to applicants that wish to work flexibly including part-time and due consideration will be given to applicants who have taken a career break. The University has a generous maternity policy**and onsite childcare facilities

The University of Southampton is in the top 1% of world universities and in the top 10 of the UK’s research-intensive universities. The University of Southampton is committed to sustainability and being a globally responsible university and has recently been awarded the Platinum EcoAward.  Our vision is to embed the principles of sustainability into all aspects of our individual and collective work, integrating sustainable development into our business planning, policy-making, and professional activities.  This commits all of our staff and students to take responsibility for managing their activities to minimise harm to the environment, whether this through switching off non-essential electrical equipment or using the recycling facilities.

*Applications for Research Fellow positions will be considered from candidates who are working towards or nearing completion of a relevant PhD qualification.  The title of Research Fellow will be applied upon successful completion of the PhD. Prior to the qualification being awarded the title of Senior Research Assistant will be given.

**subject to qualifying criteria

Application Procedure 

You should submit your completed online application form at https://jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. References are requested along with your application. This reference system is automated so please ensure you provide the correct email address and allow time for these to be received, prior to the close date, to assist the department with shortlisting. If you need any assistance, please call Sam Stubbs (Recruitment Team) on +44 (0) 2380 592750  or email recruitment@soton.ac.uk  Please quote reference 1423621FP on all correspondence.