Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering

Location:  Boldrewood Campus
Salary:   £31,406 to £35,326
Full Time Fixed Term for 29 months
Closing Date:  Wednesday 05 January 2022
Interview Date:   To be confirmed
Reference:  1629121DA

Project:  (Fluid dynamics of Urban Tall-building clUsters for Resilient built Environments -- FUTURE)

The University of Southampton with support from the UK research council EPSRC, is funding 29-month full-time work on the use of efficient Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes in the context of urban meteorology, with a focus on the dependence of wind and temperature fields on tall building clusters.  The numerical work will be carried out for both idealised and realistic clusters of tall buildings in various atmospheric conditions. Simulation results will be compared with wind tunnel and field experiments carried out by other universities (University of Reading, University of Surrey, respectively) collaborating on this project. Significant progress has already been made at Southampton on using Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) techniques for very large domains (e.g. several kilometres) with a high resolution (e.g. two metres).  A great opportunity has arisen to develop the work to 1) further understand the flow physics characterising this challenging configuration, and 2) develop novel parametrisation models. 

You will have a PhD or submitted a thesis or have equivalent professional qualifications and experience in applied mathematician, meteorologist or engineering with experience of using C++ or FORTRAN, and experience of investigating bluff body aerodynamics and turbulent boundary layer. Knowledge of large-scale parallel computing, knowledge of stratification flows, and experience of using large-eddy simulations or detached-large eddy simulations are desirable.  

You will join our large friendly and flourishing aerodynamics group (http://www.southampton.ac.uk/engineering/research/groups/afm.page) engaged in a wide range of experimental and numerical studies of turbulent flows.  The project will benefit from close collaboration with other researchers and with colleagues in this project.

Equality, diversity and Inclusion is central to the ethos in the School of Engineering. We particularly encourage women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic, LGBT and disabled applicants to apply for this position. In recognition of our continued commitment to improving equality for women in science we were awarded an Athena SWAN bronze in 2013 and 2016.   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*, 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

 Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Zheng-Tong Xie (Email: z.xie@soton.ac.uk).

Application procedure:

You should submit your completed online application form at www.jobs.soton.ac.uk. The application deadline will be midnight on the closing date stated above. If you need any assistance, please call Lizzie Cessford on +44 (0) 23 8059 2750. Please quote reference 1629121DA number on all correspondence.