Research Assistant / Associate in Chemical Engineering (Membranes)

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary
Research Assistant: £32,296 - 33,882 per annum.
Research Associate: £34,866 - £45,163 per annum.

The Role
We want to work with highly-talented, ambitious scientists and engineers. You should therefore be able to demonstrate a track record (suitable for your career stage) that is based upon collaborative, thought-provoking laboratory research aligned with the Materials, Concepts and Reaction Engineering Group [1].

As this position will be funded by a specific research grant [2], you must have experience in laboratory experiments with ion-conducting ceramic membranes or molten salts, and, in addition, experience in one of the following: carbon dioxide separation processes; experimental study of gas-solid and/or gas-liquid reactions; experimental study of ion transport processes.

Your role will be to fabricate and characterise supported molten-salt membranes [3], which will include inorganic materials synthesis, gas sorption/permeation testing, and (typically via external collaboration) inorganic materials characterisation (diffraction, tomography, microscopy, spectroscopy, surface area and porosity analysis etc).

It is only fair to expect that we will support your career aspirations. Whether you want to build your research track record, seek a position in industry, or launch your own independent academic career, we are very well placed to provide guidance and support. Our previous group members work in leading companies, hold prestigious research fellowships, and have started their own research groups. If you invest your time in us, we will support you to reach your goals.

Due to the funding associated with this award you will be provided with opportunities for collaborative research (including travel to partner universities) and researcher development training as part of multi-institution cohorts. Additionally, there is financial support to attend national and international conferences.

The position is available immediately on a full time, fixed term basis with a 1-year initial appointment. We will consider applications to work flexibly wherever possible and encourage remote working (subject to delivering the key laboratory experimental goals of the project you will be funded by). Our group is inherently multi-disciplinary, across chemical engineering, chemistry, and materials science. Typically, we have ~15 members at one time, which allows us to form a tight-knit, collaborative, and supportive environment. We will encourage you to work across our different projects and to supervise PhD and undergraduate students, whilst also giving you the freedom to pursue your own interests (subject to delivering the key laboratory, experimental goals of the projects you will be funded by).

For more information about the School of Engineering at Newcastle University, please click here.

As part of our commitment to career development for research staff, the University has developed 3 levels of research role profiles. These profiles set out firstly the generic competences and responsibilities expected of role holders at each level and secondly the general qualifications and experiences needed for entry at a particular level.

For any informal enquiries, contact ian.metcalfe@ncl.ac.uk or greg.mutch@ncl.ac.uk who will be the Newcastle University Principal Investigators on the research grants associated with this position.

References:
[1] https://www.ncl.ac.uk/engineering/research/chemical-engineering/materials-concepts-reaction-engineering/
[2] https://synhisel.com/
[3] https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2019/TA/C9TA01979K

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