Research Associate in Geomicrobiology Related to the Geodisposal of Radioactive Waste

Job reference: SAE-027471
Salary: £36,924-£45,163 per annum, dependent on relevant experience
Faculty/Organisational Unit: Science and Engineering
Location: Oxford Road
Employment type: Fixed Term
Division/Team: Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Hours Per Week: Full Time (1 FTE)
Closing date (DD/MM/YYYY): 16/12/2024
Contract Duration: 24 months
School/Directorate: School of Natural Sciences

Overall Purpose of the Job

This position will form part of the NERC and Nuclear Waste Services (NSW) funded ‘Towards Safe Geological Disposal of Radioactive Waste in LSSRs (GeoSafe)’ project. This consortium project is a £5 M collaboration between Imperial College London, University of Manchester, the British Geological Survey, University of Liverpool, Heriot Watt University, Leeds University,  and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). The successful applicant will be based in Department of Earth and Environment at The University of Manchester, and will also undertake research visits to other universities and institutes (e.g. Diamond Light Source). The research associate will work closely with other members of the GeoSafe team to exchange and integrate their results and achieve the projects broad objective of understanding the key aspect of radioactive waste disposal in lower strength sedimentary rock.

The purpose of this research associate position is to undertake experiments to determine the suitability of LSSR as a GDF host rock and develop accurate models to predict the transport and fate of key radionuclides under relevant biogeochemical conditions. The research associate will be involved in several key aspects of the research, including (1) the characterisation of microbial communities in relevant LSSR samples, (2) determining their response to electron donors and acceptors expected in GDF systems, and (3) identifying the impacts of LSSR microbial processes on radionuclide solubility.  A broad range of microbial (culturing and DNA-based) techniques will be used alongside state of the art geochemical, mineralogical and imaging approaches in batch and flow-through experiments. Together these datasets will help constrain the impacts of microbial processes on the release of radionuclides from an LSSR GDF into the surrounding geosphere, and help underpin biogeochemical models that can inform the safety case for such a facility.

What you will get in return:

• Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
• Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
• Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
• Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
• Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Jon LLoyd

Email: jon.lloyd@manchester.ac.uk

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